Agnosia
By: Rana Muhammad Luqman Khan
Defining Agnosia
Agnosia is the loss of the ability to recognize objects, faces,
voices, or places. It’s a rare disorder involving one (or more) of
the senses.
Agnosia usually affects only a single information pathway in the
brain. If you have this condition you can still think, speak, and
interact with the world.
There are several different types of agnosia. Visual agnosia, for
example, is an inability to name or describe the use for an object
placed in front of you when just looking at it. You’ll still be able to
reach for it and pick it up. You can also use your sense of touch
to identify what it is or its use once you’re holding it.
Causes of Agnosia
Agnosia occurs when the brain experiences damage along
certain pathways. These pathways involve sensory processing
areas. These parts of the brain store knowledge and information
regarding perception and identification of things.
Agnosia is usually caused by lesions on the parietal, temporal, or
occipital lobes of the brain. These lobes store semantic
information and language. Strokes, head trauma, or encephalitis
can cause lesions.
Other conditions that damage or impair the brain can also cause
agnosia. These conditions include:
• dementia
• brain cancer
• states of anoxia (loss of oxygen supply to the brain) including
carbon monoxide poisoning
Types Of Agnosia
There are 3 main types of agnosia: visual, auditory, and tactile.
Visual agnosia.
Visual agnosia occurs when there’s brain damage along the
pathways that connect the occipital lobe of the brain with the
parietal or temporal lobe.
The occipital lobe assembles incoming visual information. The
parietal and temporal lobes allow you to understand the meaning
of this information.
Apperceptive visual agnosia
Apperceptive visual agnosia causes difficulty in perceiving
shapes or forms of an object that you see. This condition may
cause you to have difficulty in perceiving the difference from one
object to another upon visual inspection.
You may not be able to copy or draw a picture of an object.
Instead, you may try to copy a picture of a circle and end up
drawing a series of concentric scribbles.
You can still use vision to navigate your environment and pick up
objects without trouble, and knowledge of what the object is used
for remains intact.
Apperceptive visual agnosia is usually caused by lesions to the
occipito-parietal cortex.
Associative visual agnosia
Associative visual agnosia is the inability to recall information
associated with an object. This includes an object’s name and
knowledge of its use.
This form of agnosia doesn’t prevent you from being able to draw
a picture of an object.
Although you’re unable to name the object on visual inspection,
you may be able to recognize and use an object shown to you
when it’s accompanied by verbal or tactile cues.
Associative visual agnosia is usually due to lesions of the
bilateral occipito-temporal cortex.
Prosopagnosia (face blindness)
Prosopagnosia is the inability to recognize familiar faces. It’s
caused by issues with the fusiform face area (FFA), a specific
region of the brain that recognizes faces.
Difficulty with facial recognition can also occur in Alzheimer’s
disease. It happens because brain deterioration can damage this
region.
Autism may also cause difficulty recognizing faces. Children with
autism spectrum disorders may learn to recognize faces in a
different way. They may find it more difficult to understand
another person’s identity or emotional state.
Achromatopsia (color blindness)
Achromatopsia, which is acquired color blindness with an
inability to identify colors that you see. This is usually caused by
a lesion in the left occipito-temporal region.
Agnosic alexia (pure alexia)
Pure alexia is the inability to recognize words visually. It’s not
possible to read with pure alexia. You can usually still speak and
write without difficulty though.
Akinetopsia (motion blindness)
Akinetopsia is the inability to perceive motion of visualized
objects. This rare condition can cause you to see moving objects
as a series of stills, like an object moving under a strobe light.
If the condition is severe, you may not be able to see any motion
at all.
Auditory verbal agnosia
Auditory verbal agnosia is also known as pure word deafness.
It’s the inability to recognize and understand spoken words,
despite intact hearing. It’s usually related to a lesion in the right
temporal region.
You can still read, write, and speak with pure word deafness.
Phonagnosia
Phonagnosia is the inability to recognize and identify familiar
voices. It develops when the brain suffers damage to a certain
part of the sound association region. There’s usually association
with a lesion in the right half of the brain.
You can still understand words spoken by others if you have this
condition. You may also still be able to recognize environmental
sounds or sounds made by objects.
Tactile agnosia
Tactile agnosia is the inability to recognize objects by touch.
You may be able to feel the weight of the object, yet be
unable to understand the significance or the use of the
object. Lesions in the parietal lobe of the brain are commonly
the cause of tactile agnosia.
You can still name objects by sight. You’re also able to draw
pictures of objects, as well as reach for them.
Autotopagnosia
Autotopagnosia is when you lose the ability to visually orient or
recognize the parts of your own body.
Damage to the left parietal lobe of the brain can cause this
condition. You are aware of where your limbs are in space at all
times, even with closed eyes.
Treatment
Treating the underlying cause and caring for symptoms is the
primary way to treat agnosia. The main goal is to enable you to
function independently in your day-to-day life.
Thank You
