Amusia after right temporoparietal lobe infarction: A case report

Abstract

Which brain regions participate in musical processing remains controversial. During singing and listening a familiar song, it is necessary to retrieve information from the long-term memory. However, the precise mechanism involved in musical processing is unclear. Amusia is impaired perception, understanding, or production of music not attributable to disease of the peripheral auditory pathways or motor system. We report a case of a 36-year-old right-handed man who lost the ability to discriminate or reproduce rhythms after a right temporoparietal lobe infarction. We diagnosed him as an amusic patient using the online version of Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA). This case report suggests that amusia could appear after right temporoparietal lobe infarction. Further research is needed to elucidate the dynamic musical processing mechanism and its associated neural structures.