Anosognosia

**Anosognosia**
*Classification & external resources*
ICD-9	780.9

Anosognosia is a condition in which a person who suffers disability due to brain injury seems unaware of or denies the existence of their handicap. This may include unawareness of quite dramatic impairments, such as blindness or paralysis. It was first named by neurologist Joseph Babinski in 1914, although relatively little has been discovered about the cause of the condition since its initial identification. The word comes from the Greek words "nosos" disease and "gnosis" knowledge.

Neurology

Anosognosia is relatively common following brain injury (e.g. 20-30% in the case of hemiplegia/hemiparesis after stroke), but can appear to occur in conjunction with virtually any neurological impairment. However, it is not related to global mental confusion (see delirium), cognitive flexibility, or other major intellectual disturbance. Anosognosia can be selective in that an affected person with multiple impairments may only seem unaware of one handicap, while appearing to be fully aware of any others. Those diagnosed with dementia of the Alzheimer's type often display this lack of awareness and insist that "There is nothing wrong with me!"

The condition does not seem to be directly related to sensory loss and is thought to be caused by damage to higher level neurocognitive processes which are involved in integrating sensory information with processes which support spatial or bodily representations (including the somatosensory system). Anosognosia is thought to be related to unilateral neglect, a condition often found after damage to the non-dominant (usually the right) hemisphere of the cerebral cortex in which sufferers seem unable to attend to, or sometimes comprehend, anything on a certain side of their body (usually the left).

Psychiatry

Although largely used to describe unawareness of impairment after brain injury, the term 'anosognosia' is now also used to describe the lack of insight shown by some people who suffer from psychosis, and who may be unaware that their outlandish beliefs and experiences are in any way unusual. Those in a manic phase of bipolar disorder may also exhibit anosognosia. The Treatment Advocacy Center has compiled information that Anosognosia is the most likely reason individuals with severe psychiatric conditions such as disorders do not take their psychiatric medication as prescribed.^[1] Further, a collection of studies show that close to 50 percent of those diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, including those who have never been treated, show signs of anosognosia.^[2]

Treatment

There are currently no long-term treatments for anosognosia, although, like unilateral neglect, Caloric reflex testing (squirting ice cold water into the left ear) is known to temporarily ameliorate unawareness of impairment. It is not entirely clear how this works, although it is thought that the unconscious shift of attention or focus caused by the intense stimulation of the vestibular system temporarily influences awareness. Most cases of anosognosia appear to simply disappear over time, while other cases can last indefinitely. Normally, long-term cases are treated with cognitive therapy to train the patient to adjust for their inoperable limbs (though it is believed that these patients still are not "aware" of their disability).

Research

Due to its disabling effects, anosognosia is now being increasingly studied. Researchers of this condition include neurologists Vilayanur S. Ramachandran and Oliver Sacks, and neuropsychologist George Prigatano.

Footnotes

1. ^ Anosognosia as a cause of violent behavior in individuals with severe psychiatric disorders. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
2. ^ Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are diseases of the brain. Treatment Advocacy Center. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.

Causes

Paralysis is most often caused by damage to the nervous system or brain, especially the spinal cord.
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Neurology is a branch of medicine dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Medical professionals (such as Biomedical Doctors and Physicians) specializing in the field of neurology are called neurologists
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1880s 1890s 1900s - 1910s - 1920s 1930s 1940s
1911 1912 1913 - 1914 - 1915 1916 1917

Year 1914 (MCMXIV
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MeSH D006429 Hemiplegia is a condition where there is paralysis in one vertical half of a patient's body. This is not hemiparesis wherein one half of the body is weakened, i.e. one arm and its corresponding leg are weak.
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Hemiparesis
Classification & external resources

ICD-10 G 81.9
ICD-9 342.9 , 094.89 , 438.2

Hemiparesis is the partial paralysis of one side of the body.
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Stroke
Classification & external resources

ICD-10 I 61. -I 64.
ICD-9 435 - 436

OMIM 601367
DiseasesDB 2247
MedlinePlus 000726pi
eMedicine neuro/9 emerg/558 emerg/557 pmr/187
MeSH D020521

Stroke (or
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MeSH D003693

This article is about the mental state and medical condition. For other uses, see Delirium (disambiguation).

“Delirious” redirects here. For other uses, see Delirious (disambiguation).

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Senses are the physiological methods of perception. The senses and their operation, classification, and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields, most notably neuroscience, cognitive psychology (or cognitive science), and philosophy of perception.
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Neurocognitive is a term used to describe cognitive functions closely linked to the function of particular areas, neural pathways, or cortical networks in the brain.
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Somatic sensation consists of the various sensory receptors that trigger the experiences labelled as touch or pressure, temperature (warm or cold), pain (including itch and tickle), and the sensations of muscle movement and joint position including posture, movement, and facial
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MeSH D010468 Hemispatial neglect, also called unilateral neglect, spatial neglect or neglect syndrome is a neurological condition in which, after damage to one hemisphere of the brain, a deficit in attention to the opposite side of space is observed.
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cerebral cortex is a structure within the vertebrate brain with distinct structural and functional properties. In non-living, preserved brains, the outermost layers of the cerebrum has a grey color, hence the name "grey matter".
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Psychosis
Classification & external resources

ICD-9 290 - 299

OMIM 603342 608923 603175 192430

MedlinePlus 001553

MeSH F03.700.
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MeSH D001714

Bipolar disorder is a psychiatric condition defined as recurrent episodes of significant disturbance in mood. These disturbances can occur on a spectrum that ranges from debilitating depression to unbridled mania.
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The neutrality of this article is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the .

The Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC) is a United States nonprofit organization founded in 1998 by schizophrenia researcher E.
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In medicine, the caloric reflex test is a test of the vestibulo-ocular reflex. It is used by audiologists and other trained professionals to validate a diagnosis of asymmetric function in the peripheral vestibular system.
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Attention is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things. Examples include listening carefully to what someone is saying while ignoring other conversations in the room (the cocktail party effect) or listening to a
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Vilayanur S. Ramachandran

Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran on an episode of PBS's NOVA Television program.
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Oliver Wolf Sacks (born July 9, 1933, London), is a United States-based British neurologist, who has written popular books about his patients; the most famous of which is Awakenings, which was adapted into a film starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro.
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Neuropsychology is an interdisciplinary branch of psychology and neuroscience that aims to understand how the structure and function of the brain relate to specific psychological processes and overt behaviors.
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Brain damage or brain injury is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells.

Brain damage may occur due to a wide range of conditions, illnesses, injuries, and as a result of iatrogenesis.
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