Gerstmann's syndrome

Question 1

Gerstmann’s syndrome is a disorder characterised by the following symptoms:-

Answer 1

• Dyscalculia (difficulty in learning or comprehending mathematics)
• Dysgraphia (deficiency in the ability to write)
• Finger agnosia (inability to distinguish the fingers on the hand)
• Right-left disorientation

Question 2

Areas involved

Answer 2

Patients diagnosed with Gerstmanns have been found to have lesions to areas such as left frontal posterior, left parietal, temporal and occipital lobes (Naude 2003). The main area of overlap seems to be the left angular gyrus which lies at the junction of the temporal, occipital and parietal lobes (Naude, 2003). The function of the angular gyrus is not well understood, but it is believed that it is involved in diverse functions as calculation, spatial reasoning, understanding of ordinal concepts as well as the comprehension of metaphors (Carota, 2003).