Lecture 20: Balint-Holmes Syndrome Flashcards
What is the other names given to Balint-Holmes syndrome?
Balint’s syndrome
What are the 3 symptoms of Balint-Holmes syndrome?
- Spatial restriction of attention/ simultagnosia
- Psychic paralysis of gaze/ oculomotor apraxia
- Optic ataxia
What does spatial restriction of attention/ simultagnosia mean?
Inability to combine visual details into a coherent whole.
What does Psychic paralysis of gaze / ocular apraxia/ oculomotor apraxia mean?
Inability to shift gaze voluntarily to objects.
Patients can move their eyes up, down, left, right on command but can’t look at an object.
What does optic ataxia mean?
Difficulty reaching under visual guidance.
Vision is good, they just can’t reach while looking at the object.
Where is the damage located in Balint-Holmes Syndrome patients?
Bilateral and nearly symmetric lesions in the posterior parietal lobe, upper temporal lobe an occipita lobe
What are the causes of the damage in Balint-Holmes syndrome?
- cerebrovascular disease
- tumour
- trauma
- prion disorders
- neurodegenerative conditions
What are the associated symptoms and deficits to Balint-Holmes syndrome?
- Left hemineglect syndrome
- Apperceptive agnosia
-
Visual disorientation
- fail to perceive distances between objects or between them and other objects.
Say examples of tasks that a patient with Balint-Holmes syndrome wouldn’t be able to do.
- Defect in reading and writing
- Falt to recognize position and distances between objects
- Unable to grasp or point accurately to objects
What is the cookie theft picture test?
- Stimuli:
- image
- Task:
- report all items in the picture
- Measurement:
- compare patient’s report to list of items
What can you test with the Cookie Theft picture?
Simultagnosia/ Spatial disorder of attention
What is optic ataxia?
It is the inability to reach and grasp an object based on visual guidance
- deficit in peripheral visual field
- lack coordination between visual and motor output
- Two effects:
- Hand effect
- Field effect
What is the letter test?
Recognition of double stimuli
What does the Letter Test allows you to find?
Simultagnosia and oculomotor apraxia
What is the hand effect?
It’s misreaching with one hand into any visual field
What is the field effect?
Difficulty reaching in the contralesional field with any hand
True or False
Optic Ataxia only happens with Baltin-Syndrome
False, it can happen on its own
What is isolated Optic ataxia?
- It’s optic ataxia but without any other deficit present
- rare
- intact visual fields and stereoscopic vision
- normal oculomotor control
- normal proprioception
- normal motor abilities except for misreaching
-
Lesion:
- discrete unilateral lesions