Kana versus kanji in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a clinicoradiological study of writing errors.

The frequency of writing errors in samples from 14 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis without manifest aphasia were compared with clinical background and indices from X-ray computed tomography, including the Evans' index (EI) and the cella media index (CMI). The inferior horn index (IHI) was measured as the maximal width of the short axis of the bilateral inferior horn of the lateral ventricles/the maximum transverse distance between the two internal laminae. Overt dementia and disinhibitive behavioral changes were significantly associated with frequency of total errors (p = 0.0280) and kanji errors (p = 0.0025). Significant associations were found for the EI with kana errors (p = 0.0481) and for the IHI with kanji errors (p = 0.0052). Preferential involvement of kana and kanji may reflect involvement of language-related areas in the frontotemporal lobes with frontal lobe or temporal lobe predominance. Copyright (c) 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.