What is Somatoparaphrenia?

Somatoparaphrenia is a rare neurological condition where a person has a delusional belief that a limb or part of their own body belongs to someone else, often occurring after a stroke or brain injury, especially to the right hemisphere. Patients might claim their paralyzed arm is their mother's or a stranger's, even when presented with proof, sometimes even caring for the limb as a separate entity, highlighting a profound disruption in the brain's sense of body ownership.

What causes somatoparaphrenia?

Somatoparaphrenia is most commonly associated with lesions of the right hemisphere and left hemiplegia, left hemisensory defects, and visuospatial neglect. (e.g. Feinberg et al., 2010; Gandola et al., 2012; Vallar & Ronchi, 2009), Thus, hemispatial neglect certainly plays a contributory role.

What is an example of somatoagnosia?

Asomatognosia (or somatoagnosia) is a neurological disorder characterized as loss of recognition or awareness of part of the body. The failure to acknowledge, for example, a limb, may be expressed verbally or as a pattern of neglect.

What is the difference between asomatognosia and somatoparaphrenia?

Objectives Asomatognosia is broadly defined as unawareness of ownership of one's arm, while somatoparaphrenia is a subtype in which patients also display delusional misidentification and confabulation. Studies differ with regard to the underlying neuroanatomy of these syndromes.

What is anosognosia in simple terms?

Anosognosia is a neurological condition in which the patient is unaware of their neurological deficit or psychiatric condition. It is associated with mental illness, dementia, and structural brain lesion, as is seen in right hemisphere stroke patients.

Somatoparaphrenia — When the Brain Rejects the Body

What is the 2 finger test in dementia?

The "2-finger test" in dementia refers to simple cognitive screening tasks, often involving interlocking fingers in specific patterns or copying hand gestures, that assess early cognitive decline, especially motor skills, memory, and visual processing, by observing difficulties with coordination or replication that aren't present in healthy individuals. While not a definitive diagnosis, it's a quick, non-invasive way for clinicians to spot signs of impairment that warrant further neurological evaluation, particularly in conditions like Parkinson's-related dementia.
 

What are the four abnormal brain conditions?

Alzheimer's disease affects more than 6 million people. Autism spectrum disorder occurs in about 1 in 44 children. Brain tumors and other nervous system cancers are relatively rare, accounting for 1.3% of all cancers. Epilepsy impacts 1.2% of the population, including 3 million adults and 470,000 children.

What is autotopagnosia?

Autotopagnosia is a neurological condition that results in the inability to recognize, name, or point on command to parts of the body.

What are the three types of prosopagnosia?

Prosopagnosia is usually caused by cerebrovascular disease, head injury, or cerebral tumors. There are three main types, namely, pure associative prosopagnosia, apperceptive prosopagnosia, and developmental prosopagnosia.

How does damage to the frontal lobe affect personality?

Frontal lobe damage drastically alters personality by impairing executive functions like impulse control, judgment, and empathy, leading to disinhibition, irritability, apathy, inappropriate social behavior (e.g., cursing, aggression, social awkwardness), loss of motivation, and emotional volatility, often presenting as either increased impulsivity (pseudopsychopathic) or reduced emotion (pseudodepressive/flat affect), exemplified famously by Phineas Gage.
 

What are some somatosensory disorders?

Somatosensory Disorders

• Somatosensory Disorders.
• Hyperalgesia.
• Hyperesthesia.
• Hypesthesia.
• Paresthesia.

What is an example of a Cryptomycota?

Rozella allomycis is probably the most well known species in Cryptomycota, and is a primary parasite of the water mold, Allomyces spp. (Blastocladiomycota). More recently, two new parasites, intermediate in morphology between microsporidia and Rozella have been described.

What are the symptoms of a right brain stroke?

A right brain stroke often causes issues on the left side of the body, including weakness/paralysis, left-sided vision loss, balance problems, and sensory changes, plus unique cognitive/emotional signs like impulsivity, poor judgment, unawareness of deficits (left neglect), difficulty with humor/sarcasm, and sudden crying/laughing (pseudobulbar affect). Remember the FAST acronym (Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, Time to call 911) for any sudden stroke signs.
 

Why am I suddenly mixing up my words?

Suddenly mixing up words can stem from common issues like stress, fatigue, or anxiety, which impact focus, but it could also signal more serious neurological problems such as a stroke, brain injury, infection, tumor, or dementia, requiring prompt medical evaluation, especially if sudden or severe, as word-finding issues (aphasia) or slurred speech (dysarthria) often point to brain changes, 1, 2, 6, 8, 10.

Is brain atrophy serious?

Brain atrophy can become dangerous when it causes a stroke. If these symptoms start suddenly, you may be having a stroke and should call 911 right away: Balance problems. Difficulty seeing in one or both eyes.

What part of the brain is damaged to cause prosopagnosia?

Typically it is parts of the occipital lobes and temporal lobes involved with perception and memory that are affected, especially a specific region within each temporal lobe known as the fusiform gyrus.

What does a face look like to someone with prosopagnosia?

People with prosopagnosia (face blindness) see faces as a collection of features (eyes, nose, mouth) but struggle to assemble them into a recognizable whole, failing to identify individuals, even loved ones; they often avoid the eyes, focusing on hair or ears, and rely heavily on non-facial cues like voice, gait, or clothing to recognize people, perceiving faces as unfamiliar or like an emoji.
 

What can people with prosopagnosia not do?

People with this disorder cannot make any sense of faces and are unable to make same–different judgments when presented with pictures of different faces. They cannot recognize familiar or unfamiliar faces. In addition, apperceptive sub-types of prosopagnosia struggle to recognize facial emotion.

How did Bruce Willis get aphasia?

Bruce Willis's aphasia stems from Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), a progressive brain disorder that damages language centers, though the exact trigger for his FTD isn't public; his family announced the diagnosis in 2022, later clarifying it was FTD, which causes gradual loss of speech, understanding, and cognitive function, leading to his retirement from acting as his condition worsened.
 

Can you develop prosopagnosia later in life?

Face blindness can be acquired through brain injury or illness, but is more usually developmental (i.e. present from birth). People are affected to different degrees, and most people with developmental prosopagnosia are only diagnosed in later life, having developed coping strategies which mask their difficulties.

What are the first signs of aphasia?

Early signs of aphasia often look like normal aging or stress, including difficulty finding words (tip-of-the-tongue), using vague words (like "thing"), speaking in shorter sentences, or trouble understanding complex sentences, alongside subtle challenges with reading or writing, like misspelling words or difficulty writing emails, often stemming from word-finding problems (anomia) or word comprehension issues (semantic PPA).
 

What are 5 signs your brain is in trouble?

When to Consult a Neurologist

• Confusion or altered consciousness.
• Rapid symptom onset (may indicate conditions like a brain tumor)
• Loss of ability to perform daily activities.
• Symptoms of depression alongside memory changes.
• Memory loss disrupting daily life.
• Difficulty planning or solving previously manageable problems.

What is the best exercise for brain health?

The best physical exercise for your brain combines aerobic activity (like brisk walking, jogging, swimming, dancing) with strength training, as this combo boosts blood flow, promotes new brain cell growth, improves memory, focus, and protects against cognitive decline. Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise weekly, plus strength training, focusing on consistency and activities you enjoy for optimal, long-term brain health.
 

What are early signs of nerve damage?

The first signs of nerve damage often involve tingling, numbness, or a "pins-and-needles" feeling (paresthesia), usually starting in the hands or feet, alongside sharp, burning pain or extreme sensitivity to touch, and sometimes muscle weakness, clumsiness, or difficulty with balance. These symptoms occur because damaged nerves can't properly send signals, leading to sensory changes, pain, and motor control issues, and often worsen at night or with certain activities, like walking.