Jules Dejerine and His Interpretation of Pure Alexia

Dejerine's interpretation of pure alexia is routinely mentioned in all neuropsychological textbooks, yet the details of his account and the evidence on which it is based have never been subjected to a critical analysis. We provide such an evaluation in this paper, summarizing the behavioral data that Dejerine presented in his now famous case report and the theoretical framework he adopted to explain the phenomenon of alexia without agraphia. We also provide a link between Dejerine's work and current hypotheses on the nature of the syndrome.