Topographical disorientation
Topographical disorientation is the inability to orient oneself in one's surroundings, sometimes as a result of focal brain damage.[1] This disability may result from the inability to make use of selective spatial information (e.g., environmental landmarks) or to orient by means of specific cognitive strategies such as the ability to form a mental representation of the environment, also known as a cognitive map. It may be part of a syndrome known as visuospatial dysgnosia.
Classification
Topographical disorientation is the inability to find one's way through an environment due to cognitive impairment.[1] Topographical disorientation has been studied for decades using case studies of patients who have selectively lost their ability to find their way within large-scale, locomotor environments. Several dozen case reports of topographical disorientation have been presented over the last century. Studying these people will aid in the understanding of the complex, multi-component behavior of navigation. Topographical disorientation may be a lifelong deficit, it may result from a stroke, or it can occur as part of a progressive illness. Frequently comorbid with this disorder are hemispatial neglect, achromatopsia, prosopagnosia, and Alzheimer's disease.[citation needed]
Developmental
3% of the sample had DTD in a study of 1,698 Italians aged between 18 and 35 years (to exclude people with cognitive decline). It was more prevalent in males than females, although, in general, males use more complex navigational strategies. The sense of direction was closely related to gender, navigational strategies adopted, and town knowledge.[4]
Egocentric
Heading
Heading disorientation is marked by the inability to represent direction of orientation with respect to external environment. This is usually due to lesions in the
Anterograde amnesiac
Topographagnosia
Landmark agnosia, also known as topographical agnosia and topographagnosia, is marked by the inability to recognize salient environmental stimuli such as landmarks. This is usually due to lesions in the lingual gyrus. Patients are able to draw detailed maps and visualize places familiar to them before the illness. They can distinguish between classes of buildings, such as house or skyscraper, but are unable to identify specific buildings, such as their own house or famous landmarks. Patients can navigate using strictly spatial information and specific details of landmarks such as house number or door color.[1] C. A. Pallis described a patient, A.H., who presented with color, face and landmark agnosia as a result of a cerebral embolism.[10]
Diagnosis
Topographical disorientation is usually diagnosed with the use of a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests combined with a variety of orientation tasks performed by the participants in both virtual and real surroundings. Performance on certain tests can identify underlying
Treatment
Treatment for topographical disorientation has been achieved through a case by case basis. Prognosis is largely dependent on the organic cause. Neuropsychological assessment followed by an assessment of unaffected cognitive abilities can be employed in therapy. Treatment for recovering navigational skills requires strengthening unaffected navigational strategies to bypass any defective ones.[citation needed]
See also
- Getting lost
- Grid cells
- Head direction cells
- Navigation
- Path integration
- Place cells
References
Further reading
- Aguirre GK, Zarahn E, D'Esposito M (February 1998). "Neural components of topographical representation". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 95 (3): 839–46. PMID 9448249.
- Antonakos CL (2004). "Compensatory wayfinding behavior in topographic disorientation from brain injury". Journal of Environmental Psychology. 24 (4): 495–502. .
- Brunsdon R, Nickels L, Coltheart M (January 2007). "Topographical disorientation: towards an integrated framework for assessment". Neuropsychol Rehabil. 17 (1): 34–52. S2CID 29766248.
- Paul Dudchenko (2010). Why people get lost: the psychology and neuroscience of spatial cognition. Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Oxford University Press. OCLC 791205815.
- Kirshner HS, Lavin PJ (November 2006). "Posterior cortical atrophy: a brief review". Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep. 6 (6): 477–80. S2CID 44713747.
- Lim TS, Iaria G, Moon SY (December 2010). "Topographical disorientation in mild cognitive impairment: a voxel-based morphometry study". J Clin Neurol. 6 (4): 204–11. PMID 21264201.
- Jonsson, Erik (2002). Inner navigation: why we get lost and how we find our way. New York: Scribner. OCLC 48579029.
- Takahashi N (August 2011). "[Agnosia for streets and defective root finding]". Brain Nerve (in Japanese). 63 (8): 830–8. PMID 21817174.
- Wilson BA, Berry E, Gracey F, et al. (August 2005). "Egocentric disorientation following bilateral parietal lobe damage". Cortex. 41 (4): 547–54. S2CID 4478452.