Right Cerebral Hemispheric Dysfunction

To the Editor. —The recent article by Weintraub and Mesulam¹described a series of 14 adolescent and adult patients suffering from a right cerebral hemispheric dysfunction syndrome associated with learning difficulties and long-term social-emotional disturbances, including symptomatology of chronic depression. We recently described²,³neurologic and neuropsychological findings from a group of children who fulfilledDSM-III⁴criteria for major childhood depressive disorder and possessed deficits in right cerebral hemispheric function, similar to those observed by Weintraub and Mesulam, including various neurologic signs of left-sided sensorimotor dysfunction, such as abnormal posturing of the left arm during complex gait maneuvers, a left extensor plantar response, pronation drift of the outstretched left arm, external rotation of the left leg while lying in a supine position, and asymmetric muscle stretch reflexes.3,5,6 Repeated neuropsychologic testing during tricyclic antidepressant treatment showed marked improvement in cognitive functioning, particularly that of the right hemisphere.³