Parietal lobe dysfunction
Dominant parietal lobe dysfunction
Gerstmann's syndrome
Gerstmann's syndrome consists of:-
It results from dominant parietal lobe lesions and is usually caused by a stroke.
Non dominant parietal lobe dysfunction
Non dominant parietal lobe lesions are associated with the following problems:-
Bilateral parietooccipital lobe dysfunction
Bilateral damage to the parietooccipital lobe (at the junction of the two) is rare but can result in a condition called Balint's syndrome. This is characterised by:-
Gerstmann's syndrome
Gerstmann's syndrome consists of:-
- finger agnosia (loss in ability to name or recognise specific fingers on the patient's own or on others hands)
- dyscalculia (an impaired ability to perform mental arithmetic)
- dysgraphia (inability to write)
- right-left disorientation (inability to carry out instructions that involve an appreciation of the right and left)
It results from dominant parietal lobe lesions and is usually caused by a stroke.
Non dominant parietal lobe dysfunction
Non dominant parietal lobe lesions are associated with the following problems:-
- anosognosia (lack of awareness of a disability or disease)
- dressing apraxia (difficulty in getting dressed)
- spatial neglect (lack of awareness of one side of the body)
- constructional apraxia (inability to copy pictures or combine parts of something into a meaningful whole)
Bilateral parietooccipital lobe dysfunction
Bilateral damage to the parietooccipital lobe (at the junction of the two) is rare but can result in a condition called Balint's syndrome. This is characterised by:-
- ocular apraxia (difficulty keeping the eyes still)
- optic ataxia (difficulty moving the eyes to a specific position)
- simultanagnosia (inability to simultaneously perceive the different aspects of a picture and appreciate it as a whole)
