Ten pen men: Rhyming skills in two children with callosal agenesis

Cases of callosal agenesis provide unique opportunities to investigate the normal role of the corpus callosum in the development of cognitive functions, including language. The only language impairment which has been consistently observed in three acallosal patients is on the retrieval of words from rhyming cues. Two new cases of callosal agenesis in children of normal intelligence are presented. Their performance on a variety of rhyming tasks involving both production and recognition of rhyme is reported. Both children display deficits and possible explanations are discussed.