Examine

one interac-on between cogni-on and physiology in terms of behaviour (for example, agnosia, anosognosia, prosapagnosia, amnesia). Evaluate two relevant studies.

Prosopagnosia

Some disorders of symbolic functions...

Dysphasia - disorders of speech (Motor or expressive /Brocas/ dysphasia).
DOMINANT HEMISPHERE

Aprosodia impairment of affective component of speech (speech melody,

intonation, voice, use of pauses, etc.). NON-DOMINANT HEMISPHERE

Dressing Apraxia - difficulties in dressing,( e.g. Getting arm into pyjamas) Constructional Apraxia innability to copy geometrical pattern Alexia - disturbance of reading (within dominant hemisphere). Agraphia - disturbance of writing (junction of the dominant hemisphere). Acalculia - disturbance of calculation (dominant hemisphere).

Gnosia Greek for cognition

Gnosiis = Greek for cognition u Cognition = from Latin cogniti, u Gnostic function = an ability to know (recognise) individual objects u Agnosia = without this ability to know or recognise
u ___________________________________________________________________________

Cognition Definition:
1. The mental process of knowing ( including aspects such as awareness, percep-on, reasoning, and judgment). 2. That which comes to be known, as through percep-on, reasoning, or intui-on;

Agnosia Definition:

Impaired recognition of an object which is sensorially presented while at the same time the impairment cannot be reduced to sensory defects (intact primary sensory cortex), mental deterioration, disorders of consciousness and attention, or to a non-familiarity with the object). The term agnosia is from S. Freud (1891) Finkelnburg 1870 asymbolia Jackson 1876 imperception Munk 1881 seelenblindheit(mind blindness)

Visual Agnosia
Specific impairment of recognition of visually presented objects individuals are well seeing but he/she is not able to identify these items.

Clinical classification according to the character of impairment:

Apperceptive visual agnosia patient is neither able to recognize objects visually nor their form, and is not able to describe object correctly. Associative visual agnosia patient is not able to recognize objects but he/ she can describe the form or even is able to draw the object correctly. Visual Agnosia is classified according to the type of affected stimuli: - Agnosia for objects - Agnosia for colors - Akinetopsia - Prosopagnosia

- Agnosia for objects (by definition individuals are not able to recognize objects when they are solely presented visually. Usually visual object agnosia was considered as the classical example of agnosias, but it is a very rare type of visual agnosia. It is thought to arrive from bilateral damage to parts of occipital lobes (strokes). - Agnosia for colors (coloragnosia) the loss of ability to recognize colors as an acquired disorder. The individual is unable to recognize colors, but he/she understands colors and is able to correctly name e.g. the color of banana, orange, etc. (lesion within left occipital lobe). It is differentiated from from inability to name colors. - Akinetopsia selective impairment of visual perception of motion (motion blindness), whilst there is a normal recognition of colors or object forms. Lesion within extrastriatal cortex) - Prosopagnosia (not as rare as visual object agnosia) loss of ability to recognise familiar faces. It can be highly specific (for human faces, for own face, for animal faces). Most often there is a lesion within right-sided occipitotemporal or parietooccipital cortical regions (fusiform ghyrus)

What is Prosopagnosia?
Prosopagnosia: from Greek:
prospon (face) agnosia (a = not; Gnosiis cogni9on)

A disorder that affects a persons ability to recognise faces Not a disorder of the visual system Individual is able to recognise other objects Famous individual with prosopagnosia Oliver Sacks

Who is Oliver Sacks?

Born in 1933 Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center (New York) Author of 11 books on psychology Inspiration for the book and movie Awakenings

Cause of Sacks Prosopagnosia

Congenital
Deni-on: rela9ng to a condi9on that is present at birth, as a result of either heredity or environmental inuences online dic9onary

He did not realise he suffered from disorder until later in life Other members of his family suffer from this disorder to a lesser extent
hMp:// sta-c.ddmcdn.com/gif/ gene-cs-at-work

Oliver Sacks talking about his Condition

Make notes how this condition affects his life

hMp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=664vzbwkc0M

What part of the brain is affected by prosopagnosia?

Right visual association Cortex Underside of the occipital-temporal cortex Fusiform Gyrus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ72IyzSC0c

Types of Prosopagnosia
Acquired Prosopagnosia:

Developmental Prosopagnosia:

Acquired prosopagnosia may occur aXer brain damage from head injury, stroke, or neurodegenera-ve diseases. Individuals with this type had normal face recogni-on abili-es in the past, but this has been impaired or lost due to brain injury.

Prosopagnosia may be present from childhood and individuals with this type of prosopagnosia oXen do not realise un-l they are older that they are unable to recognize faces as well as other people do. It is also thought that developmental prosopagnosia may be present in children with Au-sm and Asperger syndrome. Children with these disorders have impaired social development, and prosopagnosia might cause or contribute to their diculty in rela-ng to other people.

In summary, common deficits experienced by individuals with Prosopagnosia Social interac-on Family Rela-onships Personal Rela-onships Professional Career Depression

Key Study 1: Caldara et al. 2005

Pa-ent called PS:

Sustained brain damage in 1992 at the age of 41. She has recovered all neuropsychological func-ons but has severe prosopagnosia.

What is happening to PS's visual system? By presen-ng PS with lots of dierent face pictures over hundreds of trials, they demonstrated that she suers from a decit involving extrac-ng informa-on - specically, incorpora-ng the facial informa-on about the eyes.

In a later study, using eye movement recordings, they found that PS focuses on the mouth to try to iden-fy personally familiar faces (contrary to normal observers who xate on the center of the face slightly below the eyes).

They believe that PS's inability to extract informa-on from the top part of the face, par-cularly in the eye region is a dominant aspect of prosopagnosia. Studies of other cases (Busigny et al., 2010) support this view as well. Explana-on: The researchers suggest that the reason why pa-ents with prosopagnosia following dierent lesions present the same behaviour, is because they commonly rely less on the eyes of faces (compared to normal observers) - the end result is an inability to perceive faces holis-cally. The ra-onale here is that the region of the eyes of the faces contain crucial informa-on to individualize faces, but this informa-on also acts as a xa*on point to combine the rela-on between many face elements.

Evalua-on Points: Caldara et al. 2005

This study helps us understand prosopaganosia: These type of studies on the neuro-func-onal basis of prosopagnosia provide clues about the reasons why PSs decit is so specic. For example, while her main lesion in the right hemisphere destroyed part of the occipital cortex, the lesion spared other parts of the occipital cortex (the ventral and dorsal part as well as parahippocampal areas were preserved where recogni-on of non-face objects may take place). This study helps us understand about normal face processing: Through these sorts of studies we have knowledge about the physiology of normal face processing The integrity of the right inferior occipital cortex (OFA) is also necessary for face processing. Evalua*on of Method:

It it important to realise that pa-ents who have this cogni-ve disorder are extremely rare, therefore a larger sample size is not possible. This case study is not longitudinal, nor is it cross- cultural. Therefore it is not clear whether other factors might contribute to this behaviour. It should be kept in mind that this research provides a reduc-onist approach exposing the causes of this disorder but ndings are restricted to very par-cular and limited examples.

Key Study 2: Joy et al. 2005

Pa-ent called AL:

AL is a child with developmental prosopagnosia His mother had a normal pregnancy and his delivery was also normal. However, his EEG, or the recording of electrical ac-vity along the scalp measuring the ring of neurons in the brain indicated problems with his brain ac-vity. Overall results suggest that the paMern of ac-vity was abnormal (just aXer birth) in both occipital lobes.

Despite this, he had normal colour vision and good literacy skills throughout his life and also had superior verbal intellect. The impairment he had started with objects such as photos and also in being able to recognise people. AL faced many social problems, due to inability to recognise faces. He also found it dicult to discriminate dierent by gender and age. He could iden-fy features in isola-on. Surprisingly, in this par-cular case study, he seemed to be resolving his decits naturally. This kind of improvement involves neuroplas*city. Somehow the brain was able to remap itself slowly producing recovery of func-on.

Evalua-on Points:
Can we be op-mis-c about neuroplas-city?
The result is s-ll inconclusive about whether our neuroplas-city is powerful enough to completely heal this cogni-ve disorder. There seems to be a complex interac-on between age, physiology and neuroplas-city, which is another factor to consider when trying to make generalisa-ons.

Highlights the interac-on between cogni-on and physiology:

Like the previous study, this study highlights the interac-on between cogni-on and physiology. Both studies establish the link by illustra-ng the eect of the disorder prosopagnosia (physiological damaged and resul-ng cogni-on) has on social interac*on.

Demonstrates area of damage:

This case study suggests that prosopagnosia may come about because of decits in both occipital lobes.

Demonstrates the social eects of this disabling condi-on:

This case study also highlights the social eects that AL has with the others can also be seen.

Is there a cure for prosopagnosia?

Probably not for Acquired prosopagnosia (in terms of our
current understanding of the condi9on):

Pa-ents diagnosed with Prosopagnosia will ul-mately experience diculty throughout their life. There is no formal treatment, but training in alterna-ve recogni-on methods can help pa-ents to beMer adapt.

More op*mis*c for Developmental prosopagnosia:

Some neuroscien-sts (for example ci-ng the evidence from clinical cases like AL) suggest that it may be possible for other parts of the brain to take over the func-on to some extent (neuroplas-city), especially in child cases.

Extension work: VS Ramachandran on the Brain

hMp://www.youtube.com/watch? v=Rl2LwnaUA-k

Three clues to understanding the brain.

Conclusions
Prospagnosia is a disorder that effects a persons ability to recognize faces Oliver Sacks is a well-known neurologist that suffers from the disorder Two types of prosopagnosia: Acquired and Developmental Developmental prosopagnosia is probably genetic No known or obvious cure but
Alternative recognition methods can help Future research may help us understand more about neuroplacticity and how we may facilitate this process

Reference
faceless_composit.. (n,d,). Retrieved from http://img52.xooimage.com/files/d/8/1/faceless_composit...rafairie-23b08f4.jpg Findingstrengthtostandagain, . (2011). findingstrengthtostandagain. Retrieved from http:// findingstrengthtostandagain.wordpress.com/ Information About Prosopagnosia. (2011). Retrieved from http://prosopagnosiaresearch.org/index/information vision losing face. (2010 ). Retrieved from http://harvardmedicine.hms.harvard.edu/fascinoma/fivesenses/vision/ losingface.php What is Prosopagnosia?. (2007). Retrieved from http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/prosopagnosia/Prosopagnosia.htm Paper on prosopagnosia http://www.nefy.ucl.ac.be/facecatlab/resProject/Prosopagnosia.pdf