Developmental topographical disorientation: a newly discovered cognitive disorder

A variety of lesions in different cerebral regions may affect the human ability to orient in the environment, resulting in ‘topographical disorientation'. In a recent study, we documented the first case of Developmental Topographical Disorientation (DTD), in a person with a life-long inability...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental brain research 2010-10, Vol.206 (2), p.189-196
Main Authors: Iaria, Giuseppe, Barton, Jason J. S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Brain - pathology
Brain Mapping
Case-Control Studies
Cognition & reasoning
Cognition disorders
Cognition Disorders - complications
Cognition Disorders - pathology
Cognitive ability
Cognitive map
Cognitive models
Confusion - etiology
Confusion - pathology
Development and progression
Female
Functional Laterality - physiology
hippocampus
Hippocampus (Brain)
Humans
Identification (Psychology)
Landmark
Male
Memory
Middle Aged
Navigation
Neurology
Neuropsychological Tests
Neurosciences
Orientation
Orientation - physiology
Photic Stimulation - methods
Physiological aspects
Recognition (Psychology) - physiology
Research Article
Risk factors
Skills
Space Perception - physiology
Spatial Behavior - physiology
Taxonomy
Traumatic brain injury
User-Computer Interface
Virtual environment
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Description
Summary:A variety of lesions in different cerebral regions may affect the human ability to orient in the environment, resulting in ‘topographical disorientation'. In a recent study, we documented the first case of Developmental Topographical Disorientation (DTD), in a person with a life-long inability to orient despite otherwise well-preserved cognitive functions, and in the absence of a cerebral injury/malformation or other neurological condition. This selective topographical disorientation was due to her inability to form a ‘cognitive map', a mental representation of the environment, which in turn impaired her ability to orient in both familiar and unfamiliar surroundings. Here, we describe 120 new cases of DTD recruited via the internet and assessed with an online battery testing their cognitive and orientation skills. We found that people with DTD differ from matched (age, gender and education) healthy controls only in those skills confined to the orientation/navigation domain, among which the ability to form a cognitive map was the most significant factor that distinguished a person affected by DTD from control subjects.
ISSN:0014-4819
1432-1106
DOI:10.1007/s00221-010-2256-9