In today's article, we will talk about such an unpleasant phenomenon as agnosia. This condition is characterized by the fact that when it develops against the background of damage to the cerebral cortex, a person is disturbed by various types of perception. As a rule, agnosia is a pathology that appears against a background of chronic diseases (problems with blood circulation of the brain, poisoning). In addition, it causes damage to the secondary parts of the cerebral cortex, which are part of the analytic system of the cortical level.
Causes of occurrence
As already mentioned, agnosia affects the parietal and occipital lobe of the human head. This may occur due to the following reasons:
- Acute problems with blood circulation in the brain (stroke).
- When tumors appear.
- Due to traumatic brain injury, which could occur due to several reasons (accident, fall from a high height, shock).
- Disorders of the movement of blood in the brain, which subsequently leads to dementia, which can both be tearful and cause certain difficulties in the development of new skills, orientation in various everyday situations and contribute to memory lapses.
- Due to the development of inflammation of the brain (encephalitis).
- Due to Parkinson's disease, which is characterized by the appearance of progressive muscle stiffness, tremors, and neuropsychological disorder.
In addition, it should be borne in mind that agnosia is a phenomenon that occurs suddenly. Therefore, you should be as attentive to your state of health as possible and regularly undergo regular medical examinations.
Symptomatology
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 in 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 textures.
- Disorders associated with the definition of sound. As a rule, this condition of a person is classified as auditory agnosia, in which the patient can not only clearly determine the nature of the sound, but also indicate the place where it sounds.
- Problems with the perception of your body.
- Inability to recognize intricate visuals. Although the person retains the ability to fix some elements, but at the same time he is not able to connect them together. For example, looking at a festive table, he can recognize glasses, jugs, plates of food, but the reason for their appearance will remain a mystery to him. This condition is classified as visual agnosia.
- Taking into account only visible space. As an example, here we can cite the situation when the patient eats only on the right side of the plate while eating or when he opens the door, he touches the door jamb with his left shoulder , since he does not see interference on the left.
A bit about agnosia: types
Like every pathology, agnosia also has its own flow characteristics, given which, you can assign an effective treatment regimen. That is why before starting therapy, you need to know not only what this violation is, but also its characteristic features.
To date, there are several forms of this condition:
- Tactile agnosia.
- Visual.
- Auditory.
Visual
As a rule, this type is manifested when a violation occurs 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 book. But if you tell him what this item is called, then he will be able to say what it is intended for. In addition, as practice shows, subject agnosia can have several degrees of severity - from maximum (problems with recognizing real objects) to minimal (difficulties with identifying a contour image).
- Agnosia on faces , which is manifested by a violation of the recognition of the faces of relatives or friends. But at the same time, the patient can indicate both age and gender of the person without any problems.
- Color agnosia , which is expressed by the fact that the patient can not say exactly what color he sees at the moment in front of him. For example, if you ask the patient to look at the green leaf on the tree and say what color it is, then you can not wait for an answer. But if you ask what it should be, a person without any problems will answer this question.
- Simultanna, or, as it is also called, simultagnosive agnosia , which is characterized by a violation in recognizing a rather complex visual image, and this despite the fact that the very ability to recognize individual elements remains in perfect order.
Also, visual agnosia quite often manifests itself in a situation when a person reads a book, but, despite all his desire, he cannot remember some letters or a single word. This leads to certain difficulties while reading, but does not affect the letter in any way, since the patient does this when asked to reproduce the letter that eludes him on a piece of paper or to type it on the keyboard.
Auditory
As a rule, auditory agnosia manifests itself in lesions of the cortical field of the temporal lobe. So, in case of damage to the temporal lobe of the hemisphere, located on the left, this condition can be expressed in the form of a phonemic hearing disorder (difficulties with distinguishing speech sounds, which in the future can lead to speech disorder). If the hemisphere lobe is damaged, which is located on the right, the patient’s ability to distinguish previously familiar musical sounds disappears.
Tactile
Tactile agnosia develops with damage to the secondary cortical field of the parietal part or hemisphere, located on the right side. Its distinguishing feature is problems with the recognition of objects by touch or in a disorder associated with the recognition of their own body parts. As practice shows, this species can be divided into 2 categories. The first can include everything that is associated with skin receptors, and the second - with muscle and articular.
Diagnostics
Having found similar symptoms in your acquaintance or loved one, in order not to guess whether it is agnosia or not, it is best to conduct certain diagnostic measures. In addition, do not forget that the diagnosis is only half the battle. Therefore, you must definitely turn to an experienced specialist who will analyze the patient’s complaints and take into account the medical history (prescription of the disease, signs, causes that led to the onset of this condition). In addition, it is important to take into account the rate of pathology progression. After this, it may be necessary to conduct an assessment of mental functions and search for other possible neurological disorders. Their need is due to the fact that agnosia is a condition that is primarily associated with a disturbance in perception. If necessary, an interview with a neuropsychologist can be scheduled, during which it will probably be necessary to perform several procedures (fill out a questionnaire, answer a variety of questions).
The value of such types of studies as MRI and computed tomography, which can not only help in a layered study of the structure of the brain, but also determine the possible cause of agnosia, should not be ruled out.
Treatment
As a rule, after treatment is started, agnosia can slightly reduce its manifestations. But only after eliminating the underlying disease can we talk about effective and efficient therapy in general.
The treatment process itself may consist in eliminating a brain tumor, controlling blood pressure, practicing with a psychologist, and using drugs that improve the state of neuropsychic functions.
The most important thing is not to self-medicate, as most people do. As practice shows, untimely diagnostics and, as a result, late-started therapy 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, special preventive measures that could prevent the development of agnosia do not exist. Of the general recommendations, we can distinguish:
- Refusal of alcohol and smoking.
- Maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
- Constant blood pressure monitoring.
- Timely contact a doctor with the slightest symptoms of the development of this condition.