Topographical disorientation: Towards an integrated framework for assessment

Topographical disorientation, the inability to find one's way in large-scale environments, is a relatively common disorder. However, there are relatively few cognitive neuropsychological studies that investigate the nature of topographical cognition. Theoretical progress has been hindered by a number of factors including: terminological confusion; lack of theoretically driven assessment; the use of broad classifications for the nature of underlying impairments; and an ongoing failure to examine topographical skills in real-life settings. As a result, there is currently no well-established or widely accepted theoretical framework encompassing all aspects of this multifaceted area of cognition. In addition, there is a relative paucity of published case studies that include a comprehensive, theoretically based assessment of topographical disorientation, and treatment of the disorder has received virtually no formal investigation (with the exception of Davis & Coltheart, 1999). Thus, the current paper focuses on the development of a broad framework for understanding topographical cognition that integrates a number of recent theories of topographical orientation and mental imagery (Farah, 1984; Kosslyn, 1980; Riddoch & Humphreys, 1989). The aim of the paper is to present a preliminary framework that can be used as a basis for further refinement and development of theoretical proposals, and be employed by clinicians as a starting point for assessment planning.

[1]  N. Takahashi,et al.  Pure Topographical Disorientation Due to Right Posterior Cingulate Lesion , 1999, Cortex.

[2]  S. Kosslyn,et al.  Visual Mental Imagery Activates Topographically Organized Visual Cortex: PET Investigations , 1993, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[3]  T. Vecchi,et al.  A Neurological Dissociation Between Preserved Visual and Impaired Spatial Processing in Mental Imagery , 1998, Cortex.

[4]  M. C. Monahan,et al.  Children's Memory Scale , 2001, Definitions.

[5]  M. Cherrier,et al.  Agnosia for scenes in topographagnosia , 2003, Neuropsychologia.

[6]  M. Stark,et al.  Impairment of an Egocentric Map of Locations: Implications for Perception and Action , 1996 .

[7]  O. Zangwill,et al.  A case of topographical disorientation associated with a unilateral cerebral lesion. , 1945, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[8]  Jason W. Brown Neuropsychology of Visual Perception , 1989 .

[9]  P. Faglioni,et al.  Topographical amnesia. , 1977, Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry.

[10]  M. D’Esposito,et al.  Environmental Knowledge Is Subserved by Separable Dorsal/Ventral Neural Areas , 1997, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[11]  D. G. Cogan Visuospatial dysgnosia. , 1979, American journal of ophthalmology.

[12]  S. Clarke,et al.  Left hemisphere strategies in visual recognition, topographical orientation and time planning , 1993, Neuropsychologia.

[13]  E. Maguire,et al.  Topographical disorientation following unilateral temporal lobe lesions in humans , 1996, Neuropsychologia.

[14]  M. Farah Visual Agnosia: Disorders of Object Recognition and What They Tell Us about Normal Vision , 1990 .

[15]  M. Coltheart,et al.  Rehabilitation of Topographical Disorientation: An Experimental Single Case Study , 1999 .

[16]  D. Levine,et al.  Two visual systems in mental imagery: dissociation of 'what' and 'where' in imagery disorders due to bilateral posterior cerebral lesions , 1996 .

[17]  A. Sirigu,et al.  Pure Topographical Disorientation: A Definition and Anatomical Basis , 1987, Cortex.

[18]  S. Kosslyn Image and mind , 1982 .

[19]  G. Humphreys,et al.  To See But Not To See: A Case Study Of Visual Agnosia , 1987 .

[20]  Martha J. Farah,et al.  A case study of mental imagery deficit , 1988, Brain and Cognition.

[21]  Glyn W. Humphreys,et al.  Cognitive Neuropsychology and Cognitive Rehabilitation , 1994 .

[22]  A. Yamadori,et al.  Pure Topographical Disorientation Related to Dysfunction of the Viewpoint Dependent Visual System , 1998, Cortex.

[23]  A. W. Ellis Normality and pathology in cognitive functions , 1982 .

[24]  M. D’Esposito,et al.  The parahippocampus subserves topographical learning in man , 1996, NeuroImage.

[25]  E. Warrington,et al.  Topographical Disorientation: Selective Impairment of Locomotor Space? , 1996, Cortex.

[26]  G. Demeurisse,et al.  Pure Topographical Disorientation Due to a Deep-Seated Lesion With Cortical Remote Effects , 1992, Cortex.

[27]  Randy Georgemiller,et al.  2/Spatial Competence , 1986 .

[28]  Hans-Otto Karnath,et al.  Disorders of spatial orientation , 2003 .

[29]  [Neuropsychology of mental imagery]. , 1982, L'annee psychologique.

[30]  D. Benson,et al.  Loss of topographic familiarity. An environmental agnosia. , 1986, Archives of neurology.

[31]  Ron Dumont,et al.  Test of Memory and Learning , 2008 .

[32]  E K Warrington,et al.  Selective impairment of topographical memory: a single case study. , 1978, Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry.

[33]  S. Kosslyn Seeing and imagining in the cerebral hemispheres: a computational approach. , 1987, Psychological review.

[34]  M. Farah Is visual imagery really visual? Overlooked evidence from neuropsychology. , 1988, Psychological review.

[35]  M. Posner,et al.  The attention system of the human brain. , 1990, Annual review of neuroscience.

[36]  C. Kase,et al.  Global spatial disorientation Clinico-pathologic correlations , 1977, Journal of the Neurological Sciences.

[37]  Paolo Di Bella,et al.  Topographical Disorientation Consequent to Amnesia of Spatial Location in A Patient with Right Parahippocampal Damage , 2000, Cortex.

[38]  P. Moretti,et al.  Transient topographical amnesia: A case report , 1993, The Italian Journal of Neurological Sciences.

[39]  Russell A. Epstein,et al.  Neuropsychological evidence for a topographical learning mechanism in parahippocampal cortex , 2001, Cognitive neuropsychology.

[40]  P. Rondot,et al.  Loss of Topographic Memory with Learning Deficits , 1980, Cortex.

[41]  L. Rapport,et al.  Validation of the Warrington theory of visual processing and the Visual Object and Space Perception Battery. , 1998, Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology.

[42]  Glyn W. Humphreys,et al.  Interactions between object and space systems revealed through neuropsychology , 1993 .

[43]  M. D’Esposito,et al.  Topographical disorientation: a synthesis and taxonomy. , 1999, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[44]  H L TEUBER,et al.  CORRELATES OF IMPAIRED ORIENTATION IN PERSONAL AND EXTRAPERSONAL SPACE. , 1963, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[45]  D. Levine,et al.  Two visual systems in mental imagery , 1985, Neurology.

[46]  J. Barrash A historical review of topographical disorientation and its neuroanatomical correlates. , 1998, Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology.

[47]  F. Newcombe,et al.  Disorders of space exploration and cognition E. De Renzi. John Wiley, Chichester (1982). 268 pp. , 1982, Neuroscience.

[48]  M. Farah The neurological basis of mental imagery: A componential analysis , 1984, Cognition.

[49]  Rosaleen A. McCarthy,et al.  Topographic amnesia: spatial memory disorder, perceptual dysfunction, or category specific semantic memory impairment? , 1996 .

[50]  M. Botez,et al.  Visual memory deficits after damage to the anterior commissure and right fornix. , 1992, Archives of neurology.

[51]  Glyn W. Humphreys,et al.  BORB: Birmingham Object Recognition Battery , 2017 .

[52]  A. Baddeley The concept of working memory: A view of its current state and probable future development , 1981, Cognition.

[53]  J. Barrash,et al.  Age‐related decline in route learning ability , 1994 .

[54]  S. Cappa,et al.  Topographic disorientation—A case report , 1990, Neuropsychologia.