Agnosia Flashcards
Agnosia
inability to recognize incoming information
**Not attributable to a primary sensory deficit, change in mental status, or attentional impairment
2 Basic Principles of Evaluation
- Rule out alternative explanations (check sensation, language, alertness, etc, first).
- Document the nature of the deficit by using a variety of tasks/stimuli.
visual agnosia
Inability to recognize visual stimuli despite having intact primary visual sense (e.g., acuity, visual fields, etc)
Prosopagnosia
Inability to recognize faces despite intact intellect and recognition of other visual stimuli
Simultagnosia
Inability to see more than one thing or more than one aspect of an object at a time, even though individual details may be correctly perceived
Color agnosia
Inability to recognize color even though the eyes are capable of distinguishing them; inability to associate objects with colors
Pure alexia
Inability to read a word (agnosia for words)
Client is unable to interpret written words when reading, but is able to comprehend when words are read aloud by someone else.
Figure ground discrimination
inability to distinguish objects/figures in foreground from background
Depth perception
Ability to determine if objects in the environment are near or far relative to each other & the self
Visual closure
Inability to determine a final percept without seeing the entire object/shape
Form constancy deficit
inability to recognize subtle variations and/or changes in form (size variation, positional change)
Position in space deficit
difficulty using concepts related to various positions
- Up/down
- In/out
- In front of/behind
- Before/after
Vertical orientation
distorted perception of the upright position in relation to the self and/or environment
Constructional apraxia
Inability or difficulty to build, assemble, or draw object
Visuospatial R/L discrimination
Ability to accurately use concepts of right & left at near or far distance
Body schema R/L discrimination
Ability to accurately use concepts of right & left on one’s own body
Autopagnosia
Inability to recognize one’s body part and their relationship to each other
Topographical disorientation
difficulty comprehending the relationship of 1 location to another ~ finding one’s way in space; due in part to LANDMARK or ENVIRONMENTAL AGNOSIA
knowing how to get somewhere
Somatosensory agnosia (tactile agnosia and/or astereognosis)
Inability to recognize object by touch despite having intact tactile, thermal, and proprioceptive functions
Auditory agnosia
Inability to recognize sounds (word and nonword sounds) despite intact hearing
Anosognosia
Inability to recognize the extent of one’s deficits – not aware of deficits
general guidelines for intervention
- awareness of the deficit
- compensate with alternate modalities
- teach critical thinking
- organizational strategies
- safety
