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How can a posterior cerebral artery infarct affect vision and speech comprehension?

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A posterior cerebral artery infarct can significantly impact both vision and speech comprehension due to the specific areas of the brain supplied by this vessel.1

Visual Impairment

The posterior cerebral artery supplies the occipital lobes, which are primarily responsible for processing visual impulses. An infarct in this region typically results in homonymous hemianopia, a condition characterized by the loss of sight in the opposite half of the visual field.21

Speech Comprehension

While speech production is often associated with the frontal lobe, comprehension is largely centered in the Wernicke area, located in the temporal lobe. A posterior cerebral artery infarct can sometimes lead to difficulty in the comprehension of speech, a condition known as receptive aphasia. This occurs because the damage affects the neural pathways or cortical areas involved in interpreting language, resulting in an inability to understand spoken words despite the individual's ability to produce fluent, albeit often nonsensical, speech.2341