Agnosia is ... Visible agnosia

In today's article, we'll talk about such an unpleasant phenomenon as agnosia. This condition is characterized by the fact that during its development against the background of damage to the cerebral cortex, various types of perception are violated in humans . As a rule, agnosia is a pathology that appears against the backdrop of chronic diseases (problems with cerebral circulation, poisoning). In addition, it damages the secondary parts of the cerebral cortex, which are part of the cortical level analyzer system.

Causes

As already mentioned, agnosia affects the parietal and occipital lobe of the human head. This can occur for the following reasons:

• Acute problems with blood circulation in the brain (stroke).
• When tumors appear.
• Due to a craniocerebral injury that could occur due to several reasons (accident, falling from a high altitude, impact).
• Disorders of blood flow in the brain, which subsequently leads to dementia, which can both be manifested by tearfulness, and cause certain difficulties in mastering new skills, orienting in various everyday situations and contributing to the occurrence of memory dips.
• Because of the development of inflammation of the brain (encephalitis).
• Because of Parkinson's disease, which is characterized by the appearance of progressive stiffness of the muscles, tremors and neuropsychological disorder.

In addition, it should be borne in mind that agnosia is a phenomenon that occurs suddenly. Therefore, it is necessary to be as attentive to the state of your health as possible and to undergo regular medical examinations on time.

Symptomatics

The most common symptoms include:

• Difficulties associated with orientation on the ground.
• Denial of the presence of diseases or defects associated with a sharp deterioration of vision, the appearance of weakness in the limbs, despite their acute manifestation.
• Indifference to the presence of a variety of defects listed above.
• Problems associated with the tactile definition of objects and their texture.
• Disturbances associated with the definition of sound. As a rule, such a person's condition is classified as auditory agnosia, in which the patient can not only clearly determine the nature of sound, but also indicate the place from where it sounds.
• Problems with the perception of your body.
• Inability to recognize intricate visual images. Although a person retains the ability to fix certain elements, but at the same time he is not able to bind them together. For example, looking at a festive table, he can recognize glasses, jugs, plates with food, but the reason for their appearance will remain a mystery to him. This condition is classified as visual agnosia.
• Taking into account only the visible space. As an example, we can cite the situation when a patient at the time of eating eats only on the right side of the plate or when he opens the door, he touches the door frame with his left shoulder , since he does not see any interference to the left.

A little about agnosia: species

As with each pathology, agnosia also has its own peculiarities of percolation, considering which, an effective treatment regimen can be prescribed. That is why before starting therapy you need to know not only what this disorder is, but also its characteristics.

To date, there are several forms of this condition:

1. Tactile agnosia.
2. Visual.
3. Auditory.

Visually

As a rule, this form is manifested when there is a violation in the secondary part of the occipital cortex. It can be expressed as follows:

• In the absence of recognition of previously known objects, it is also called subject agnosia . For example, a person finds it difficult to answer the question "what is this?" When looking at a phone or a book. But if he tells how this object is called, then he can tell what is meant for. In addition, as practice shows, subject agnosia can have several degrees of severity - from the maximum (problems with recognizing real objects) to the minimum (difficulties in identifying the contour image).
• Agnosia on the face , which manifests itself as a violation of the recognition of the faces of relatives or friends. But at the same time the patient can specify both age and sex of the person without special problems.
• Color agnosia , which is expressed by the fact that the patient can not say exactly what color he sees at this moment in front of him. For example, if you ask the patient to look at the green leaf on the tree and tell what color it is, you can not wait for an answer. But if you ask how it should be, a person will answer this question without any problems.
• Simultaneous, or, as it is also called, simultagnozivnoy agnosia , which is characterized by a violation when recognizing a rather complex visual image, and this despite the fact that the very ability to identify individual elements remains in perfect order.

Also, visual agnosia often manifests itself in a situation where a person reads a book, but, despite all his desire, can not remember some letters or a single word taken. This leads to certain difficulties during reading, but does not affect the letter in any way, because when asked to reproduce the letter escaping from it on a piece of paper or to type it on the keyboard without any problems, the patient does it.

Auditory

As a rule, auditory agnosia is manifested when the cortical field of the temporal lobe is affected. Thus, if the temporal lobe of the hemisphere on the left is damaged, this condition can be expressed as a disorder of phonemic hearing (difficulty in distinguishing the sounds of speech, which in the future can lead to speech disorder). With a damaged hemisphere part that is located on the right, the sick person has lost the ability to distinguish previously familiar musical sounds.

Tactile

Tactile agnosis develops when the secondary cortical field of the parietal part or hemisphere, located on the right side, is damaged. Its distinctive feature is the problems with the identification of objects by touch or in the frustration associated with recognizing one's own parts of the body. As practice shows, this species can be divided into 2 categories. The first can include all that is associated with the skin receptors, and the second - with the muscles and joints.

Diagnostics

Finding similar symptoms from your friend or close person, so as not to guess whether agnosia is or not, it is best to conduct certain diagnostic activities. In addition, do not forget that the diagnosis is only half the case. Therefore, you should definitely contact an experienced specialist who will analyze the patient's complaints, take into account the history of the disease (the prescription of the disease, the signs, the causes that led to the emergence of this condition). In addition, it is important to take into account the rate of progression of pathology. After this, an evaluation of mental functions and the search for other possible neurological abnormalities may be necessary. Their necessity is related to the fact that agnosia is a condition that is primarily associated with a disorder of perception. If necessary, an interview with a neuropsychologist may be scheduled, during which it is likely that several procedures will be required (fill out a questionnaire, answer a variety of questions).

Do not exclude the value of such types of research as MRI and computed tomography, which not only can help in the layer-by-layer study of the structure of the brain, but to determine the possible cause of agnosia.

Treatment

As a rule, after the treatment is started, agnosia can slightly reduce its manifestations. But only after the elimination of the underlying disease can we talk about effective and effective therapy in general.

The healing process itself can consist in the elimination of the brain tumor, control of blood pressure, training with a psychologist and the use of drugs that improve the state of neuropsychiatric functions.

The most important thing is not to self-medicate, as most people do. As practice shows, the diagnosis was not carried out in time and, as a consequence, the therapy that was started late can no longer completely eliminate the manifestations of this pathology. In general, statistics show that if treatment is started on time, agnosia can almost completely disappear.

Prevention

To date, there are no special preventive measures that could prevent the development of agnosia. From the general recommendations can be identified:

• Refusal of alcohol and smoking.
• Maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
• Continuous monitoring of blood pressure.
• Timely appeal to the doctor with the slightest symptoms of the development of this condition.