Soul blindness, also known as visual agnosia or optical agnosia, is the inability to process sensory stimuli despite functional perception. The sensory organs are not impaired and there is no mental illness such as dementia.
What is soul blindness?
The difference from conventional blindness is that agnosia patients do not have impaired vision. They are unable to associate visual perceptions with visual memories. People suffering from soul blindness can see other people or objects but cannot recognize them. Auditory and tactile perception, however, is possible.
Causes
This neurological disorder results from damage to the visual center, specifically the occipital lobe (occipital lobe, rearmost part of the cerebrum). Causes may include brain damage following an accident (traumatic brain injury) or a stroke. Apperceptive soul blindness prevents the composition of the various perceived elements into a coherent whole. It occurs due to damage to the early visual areas of the brain. Associative soul blindness occurs whenever one’s imagination cannot be brought together with information from other perceptual modalities. The subtypes are described as imagination agnosia, object agnosia, symbol agnosia, and simultaneous agnosia. The question of why affected individuals cannot perceive faces and objects correctly, even though their brain and eyes are completely intact, has not yet been conclusively answered. The brain is unable to correctly interpret the sensory impressions conveyed via the eyes. The sense of sight, also known as the sense of sight, is the most important human sensory organ. The area in the brain that deals with processing the impressions delivered via the sense of sight is correspondingly large. When a person sees something in his or her environment, this visual information hits the eye, which passes it on to the brain. On its way, this visual information passes through about forty highly specialized brain areas. In the back of the head is the primary visual center. From this location, two pathways run through the brain, one extending to the temple and the other to the crown. Lined up along these pathways are the areas responsible for processing incoming visual information. These areas are equipped with a large number of different neurons that respond to different visual stimuli. The neurons involved in this process prefer complex visual stimuli. At the end of the hierarchical progression, the neuron groups respond specifically to familiar persons or objects. Visual connectivity exists not only within visual areas, but also with more distant areas of the brain. All areas involved are in a lively exchange. In reading, for example, the visual areas work together with the language center.
Symptoms, complaints, and signs
Neuropsychology is concerned with the phenomenon of this lack of face recognition. It strives to pinpoint the location in the cerebral cortex responsible for recognizing geometric shapes. Magnetic resonance imaging studies show that the brain regions between the occipital and lateral lobes are responsible for face perception. Face blindness occurs in isolation from other types of agnosia. Patients who have difficulty recognizing faces are still able to perceive the rest of their environment, such as objects, trees, houses, and the like. Thus, facial agnosia is not linked to object agnosia. For this reason, researchers believe that face perception is a separate processing process in the brain. Brain research is faced with many unanswered questions, since the processes in the brain are far from being conclusively understood. Brain researchers assume that “gyrus fusiformis” (brain winding), the brain region located on the right side of the temple, controls the perception of faces. For this reason, science also refers to this brain area as the “fusiform face area” (FFA). The unusual phenomenon here is that a computer tomography shows no abnormalities, although in face blind people the corresponding modules that control this type of perception do not function.
Diagnosis and course of the disease
The most prominent symptom is the inability to recognize faces. Affected individuals are unable to recognize faces of familiar people and identify them by familiar features such as voice, clothing, height, or hair color (prosopagnosia). However, they are perfectly capable of recognizing objects, obstacles and other objects. If object blindness is present, objects in the environment are not perceived correctly and the affected person cannot, for example, draw pictures. Because their imagination is unable to assemble incoming visual stimuli into a whole picture, they cannot name the faces or objects that are present. Typically, agnosia patients cannot remember faces or objects, but have no difficulty describing these things from memory. Most patients can write but have difficulty reading, which is because the ability to write happens from memory, but reading requires perceiving objects (letters). Visual estimation (estimating distances) and the ability to name colors are limited. Everything that the affected person feels and hears is named correctly (tactile agnosia). Medical professionals perform various tests with the patients. For example, the patient must identify objects and describe their use. In order to diagnose a visual field disorder, the patient is presented with photos of people he or she knows and has to name them. Furthermore, the general function of the visual ability is checked to rule out a regular visual disorder or object agnosia.
Complications
Soul blindness has a very negative impact on the patient’s daily life. In many cases, the patient’s relatives or parents and friends are also affected by the disease, suffering from severe psychological distress or depression. Due to the disease, patients can no longer perceive or associate people or objects correctly. This leads to considerable restrictions in the daily lives of those affected, so that in many cases they are also dependent on the help of other people in their lives. Child development may also be restricted and significantly delayed by the disease. The further course of this disease depends very much on its exact cause, so that unfortunately no general prediction can be made about it. As a rule, there is also no direct treatment of this disease. Most patients are dependent on various trainings and therapies, which are supposed to promote the memory. However, it cannot be predicted whether this will lead to a positive course of the disease. Those affected may have to live with the disease for the rest of their lives. Also about the life expectancy no statement can be given due to the soul blindness. However, this is rarely limited by the disease.
When should one go to the doctor?
In most cases of soul blindness, a doctor must be consulted. There can be no self-healing with this disease, so those affected are usually always dependent on medical treatment. An early diagnosis of soul blindness has a positive effect on the further course of the disease. A doctor should be consulted when the affected person shows changes in his or her behavior. Patients no longer recognize familiar faces, voices or smells or are no longer able to associate them correctly. Severe depression or other psychological upsets also occur. If these symptoms occur permanently and do not disappear on their own, a doctor must be consulted in any case. In most cases, soul blindness is treated by a psychologist. In severe cases, treatment in a closed clinic may be necessary. Since soul blindness is a largely unexplored disease, a universal course cannot be predicted.
Treatment and therapy
Depending on symptoms, complaints, and findings, neurologists, speech therapists, and occupational therapists care for patients. In addition to therapies that specifically promote speech and memory, simple measures such as motivated self-training of the patient sometimes lead to success in facilitating everyday life and reducing embarrassing situations when a known person is not recognized.The affected person can train himself to perceive certain personal characteristics. She can practice identifying the people around her by external and familiar features such as voice, height, hairstyle, hair color, clothing style, figure and other individual characteristics. Pressure is removed from patients when they are open about their disease and inform their social environment about this neurological disorder.
Prevention
Because even neurologists and brain researchers are not yet conclusively clear about how this neurological perceptual disorder develops, there is no prevention in the clinical sense that rules out the disease.
Follow-up
The disorder has a significant impact on the environment of affected individuals. Familiar people and objects can often no longer be recognized. Likewise, affected persons can no longer read. Affected persons can no longer perform simple everyday tasks independently. For this reason, help from relatives and friends must be sought. The disease can be very stressful for those affected. Therefore, it is recommended to consult a psychologist as well as a neurologist. The latter can help the affected person deal with the disease and the feelings it triggers. Affected persons should pursue all activities that make them happy. The best possible attempt should be made to prevent depression. For example, outdoor sports should be practiced. This has a positive effect on the well-being of sufferers. In addition, sports support the immune system. Likewise, the lifestyle should be adapted to the disease. A healthy diet and the renunciation of alcohol and nicotine have a positive effect on the disease. The diet should contain above all a lot of fruit and vegetables, and fat and sugar should be avoided as far as possible. In order for those affected to be able to call on the help of family members, they should be sufficiently informed about the disease. This can avoid unnecessary stress.
This is what you can do yourself
This rare form of perceptual disorder can affect anyone. However, its effect on the social environment is fatal, as even familiar people or everyday objects are no longer recognized. Other abilities, such as reading, may also be impaired. In most cases, affected patients need help to cope with their daily lives. This can be very stressful for both the affected persons themselves and their relatives. It is therefore advisable to consult a psychologist as well as a neurologist for medical care. In addition, all measures known to prevent depression are recommended. First and foremost, this includes exercise, especially if it is done outdoors. Fresh air and exercise not only support the immune system, but also bring balance and a good mood. At the same time, the patient has a sense of achievement, which can compensate for the deficits of soul blindness. Recent research shows that a healthy diet also has a positive impact on mental health. Soul-blind patients would do well not to smoke, drink alcohol, and avoid too much fat and sugar. Instead, they should reach for fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and oils containing omega-3s. It is also helpful for patients to be proactive about their condition and to inform those around them about any existing deficits. This prevents misunderstandings and can avoid unnecessary stress.