THE SYNDROME OF ANOSOGNOSIA

WHILE accounts of cases of anosognosia¹ have mainly concerned descriptions of patients who have denied the existence of left hemiplegia and blindness, there have been reported many instances of denial or unawareness of other defects. Schilder,² Von Hagen and Ives,³ Nielsen and Ives,⁴ Nielsen,⁵ Olsen and Ruby,⁶ Sandifer⁷ and Rosenbaum⁸ recorded cases of denial of right hemiplegia. Unawareness of paraplegia was reported by Stengel and Steele.⁹ Roth¹⁰ observed anosognosia for hemiballismus. There are also cases of denial of alexia,¹¹ auditory agnosia¹⁰ and deafness.¹² Fulton and Bailey,¹³ Nielsen and Raney,¹⁴ and Redlich and Dorsey¹⁵ observed patients who denied that they were ill at all or that they had been operated on. Most of the discussion has centered about whether a focal lesion can produce anosognosia or whether diffuse involvement of the brain is necessary. The problem