Charcot–Wilbrand syndrome

Charcot–Wilbrand syndrome
SpecialtyNeurology

Charcot–Wilbrand syndrome (CWS) is dream loss following focal brain damage specifically characterised by visual agnosia and loss of ability to mentally recall or "revisualize" images.[1] The name of this condition dates back to the case study work of Jean-Martin Charcot and Hermann Wilbrand, and was first described by Otto Potzl as "mind blindness with disturbance of optic imagination".[2][3] MacDonald Critchley, former president of the World Federation of Neurology, more recently summarized CWS as "a patient loses the power to conjure up visual images or memories, and furthermore, ceases to dream during his sleeping hours".[4] This condition is quite rare and affects only a handful of brain damage patients. Further study could help illuminate the neurological pathway for dream formation.

  1. ^ Nielsen J.:Agnosia, Apraxia, Aphasia: Their Value in Cerebral Localization, 2nd ed. New York, Hoeber,1946.
  2. ^ Chokroverty Seds. Sleep Disorders Medicine: Basic Science, Technical Considerations, and Clinical Aspects. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: Saunders/Elsevier; 2009.
  3. ^ Pötzl O.: Die Aphasielehre vom Standpunkt der klinischen Psychiatrie, I: Die optisch-agnostischen Storungen (die verschiedenen Formen der Seelenblindheit) [The Aphasia Doctrine from the Standpoint of Clinical Psychiatry, I: Optic-Agnosic Disorders (the Different Forms of Mind-Blindness)], Leipzig, Deuticke, 1928.
  4. ^ Critchley M.:The Parietal Lobes, London, Edward Arnold,1953.
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