Personal name anomia: a single case study.

A case presenting an anomia specific for person proper names but no naming impairment either for other types of proper names or for common names is reported. The deficit was equally present both in face-naming and in naming upon definition and was not affected by the descriptiveness of the labels borne by the individuals. The patient had no semantic processing impairment either for faces or names. The results are discussed in terms of impaired access to intact phonological representations.