Akinetopsia

As Akinetopsie (also: Bewegungsagnosie, from Greek α - - a- " un-, not "; κίνησις - kinesis " movement "; ὄψις - opsis " vision " ) is used in medicine and psychology, the impairment or inability to visual perception of motion, motion directions and speeds designated. This is a very rarely occurring neuropsychological disorder for which there is according to the latest research, no treatment or cure options.

Pathophysiology

Already in the interconnection in the retina of the eye there is a distribution of the different qualities of perception ( color, shape, motion) in different cell types. So especially the magnocellular system for the perception of motion is responsible. Under physiological conditions, the processing of motion and speed of the visual cortex takes place. In particular, the regions V2 -V5 play a role that will be included as associative visual cortex of the interpretation of what is seen.

In primates, it was discovered that especially the area V5 has a high sensitivity to motion, so that damage to this region can lead to a Akinetopsie. Cause of a lesion, an ischemia of the brain area (eg by stroke or brain hemorrhage ); also seems to have a negative influence Alzheimer's. Since lesions in this area are not uncommon, it is assumed that the contralateral area can compensate for a unilateral failure. Thus, a two-sided damage would be needed to cause a Akinetopsie. In addition, a Akinetopsie could be induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation of V5.

Characteristics

Patients with a Akinetopsie describe movements as a sequence of static images. This other associative benefits such as color perception, spatial vision, and also the Flimmerfusionsfrequenz are not affected. In everyday Akinetopsie is associated with a significant impairment that makes it difficult, especially the coordination of movements, such as casting liquids or grasping objects. In addition, patients have trouble communicating because they do not perceive lip movements and facial expressions.

The first detailed description of a Akinetopsie took Zihl et al. to her patient " L. M. " before. This describes, for example, when pouring coffee as " frozen " and brought the cup to overflow regularly, as they could not perceive the filling. In the presence of others they felt unsafe because they did not take on the commitment of the people and this therefore simply " appeared ".

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of Akinetopsie is more likely to be difficult, since there are no standardized test methods. Today here are primarily computer-based testing methods are used, in which the reaction of the patients are examined on motions. Therapy or healing possibilities are not known on the current state of research.