Associative Visual Agnosia

Definition

Regardless of modality, an associative agnosia implies that although perception is intact, the particular stimulus has no meaning (“associative” value) to the individual. The stimulus can neither be named nor linked to other personal or sensory experiences. Hence, associative visual agnosia refers to the inability to identify or categorize a visually presented stimulus despite adequate visual perception.

Current Knowledge

Individuals with this disorder should be able to match the visual stimulus to a sample and copy or draw what is seen, thus distinguishing associative from apperceptivevisual agnosia. In the latter condition, visual object recognition is also impaired, but primarily as a result of a disturbance of perception. In addition to having difficulty naming visually presented objects, a patient suffering from associative visual agnosia would likely be unable to describe their use or purpose, or indicate to which category of objects they may belong. However, in pure...