A 76-year-old man suddenly presented with loss of motivation for speaking. He had no aphasia, depression or dementia, but he did not want to speak with other people. CT scan showed hypodensities, presumably lacunes, mainly in the anterior limb of the two internal capsules. Global behavioral changes with loss of self psychic activation have been reported, but in our patient the disturbance was restricted to oral language. The role of activating cortico-subcortical loops is discussed.