agnosia

Introduction

Impairment in the ability to recognize various sensory stimuli, not attributable to impairment of primary sensory receptors or general intellect.

Etiology

• lesions in the occipital lobe or parietal lobe of the brain resulting from stroke or neurodegenerative disease

Epidemiology

rare Cinical manifestations:

• difficulty recognizing the geometric features of an object or face
• may be able to perceive the geometric features but not know what the object is used for or whether a face is familiar or not
• may be limited to one sensory modality such as vision or hearing
• other cognitive abilities may be intact

Management

• treatment is generally symptomatic & supportive
• treat specific etiology
• prognosis: quality of life may be compromised

More general terms

• sign/symptom

Patient information

agnosia patient information