Anton-Babinski syndrome
Encyclopedia
Anton–Babinski syndrome is a rare symptom of brain damage
occurring in the occipital lobe
. People who suffer from it are "cortically blind
", but affirm, often quite adamantly and in the face of clear evidence of their blindness, that they are capable of seeing. Failing to accept being blind gets dismissed by the sufferer through confabulation
. It is named after Gabriel Anton
and Joseph Babinski
.
, but may also be seen after head injury
. It is well described by the neurologist Macdonald Critchley:
The syndrome may be conceptualised ideally as the converse of blindsight
: a syndrome in which part of the visual field is experienced as completely inoperative, but some reliable perception does in fact occur.
results in the inability to communicate with the speech-language areas of the brain. Visual imagery is received but cannot be interpreted; the speech centers of the brain confabulate
a response.
, a disease that usually does not cause the syndrome in real life.
The syndrome features prominently in the Rupert Thomson
novel The Insult
. It is also mentioned in the science fiction novel Blindsight
, by Peter Watts.
It is mentioned frequently as "Anton's Blindness" as one of the primary metaphors in Raj Patel's
The Value of Nothing
.
Brain damage
"Brain damage" or "brain injury" is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors...
occurring in the occipital lobe
Occipital lobe
The occipital lobe is the visual processing center of the mammalian brain containing most of the anatomical region of the visual cortex. The primary visual cortex is Brodmann area 17, commonly called V1...
. People who suffer from it are "cortically blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
", but affirm, often quite adamantly and in the face of clear evidence of their blindness, that they are capable of seeing. Failing to accept being blind gets dismissed by the sufferer through confabulation
Confabulation
Confabulation is the process in which a memory is remembered falsely. Confabulations are indicative of a complicated and intricate process that can be led astray at any given point during encoding, storage, or recall of a memory. Two distinct types of confabulation are often distinguished...
. It is named after Gabriel Anton
Gabriel Anton
Gabriel Anton was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist. He is primarily remembered for his studies of psychiatric conditions arising from damage to the cerebral cortex and the basal ganglia....
and Joseph Babinski
Joseph Babinski
Joseph Jules François Félix Babinski was a French neurologist of Polish descent. He is best known for his 1896 description of the Babinski sign, a pathological plantar reflex indicative of corticospinal tract damage....
.
Characteristics
Anton–Babinski syndrome is mostly seen following a strokeStroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
, but may also be seen after head injury
Head injury
Head injury refers to trauma of the head. This may or may not include injury to the brain. However, the terms traumatic brain injury and head injury are often used interchangeably in medical literature....
. It is well described by the neurologist Macdonald Critchley:
The sudden development of bilateral occipital dysfunction is likely to produce transient physical and psychical effects in which mental confusion may be prominent. It may be some days before the relatives, or the nursing staff, stumble onto the fact that the patient has actually become sightless. This is not only because the patient ordinarily does not volunteer the information that he has become blind, but he furthermore misleads his entourage by behaving and talking as though he were sighted. Attention is aroused however when the patient is found to collide with pieces of furniture, to fall over objects, and to experience difficulty in finding his way around. He may try to walk through a wall or through a closed door on his way from one room to another. Suspicion is still further alerted when he begins to describe people and objects around him which, as a matter of fact, are not there at all.
Thus we have the twin symptoms of anosognosia (or lack of awareness of defect) and confabulation, the latter affecting both speech and behaviour.
The syndrome may be conceptualised ideally as the converse of blindsight
Blindsight
Blindsight is a phenomenon in which people who are perceptually blind in a certain area of their visual field demonstrate some response to visual stimuli...
: a syndrome in which part of the visual field is experienced as completely inoperative, but some reliable perception does in fact occur.
Causes
Why patients with Anton–Babinski syndrome deny their blindness is unknown, although there are many theories. One theory is that damage to the visual cortexVisual cortex
The visual cortex of the brain is the part of the cerebral cortex responsible for processing visual information. It is located in the occipital lobe, in the back of the brain....
results in the inability to communicate with the speech-language areas of the brain. Visual imagery is received but cannot be interpreted; the speech centers of the brain confabulate
Confabulation
Confabulation is the process in which a memory is remembered falsely. Confabulations are indicative of a complicated and intricate process that can be led astray at any given point during encoding, storage, or recall of a memory. Two distinct types of confabulation are often distinguished...
a response.
In popular culture
Anton–Babinski syndrome was featured in two episodes of the House, M.D. TV series, titled "Euphoria, Part 1" and "Euphoria, Part 2", although it was ascribed to primary amoebic meningoencephalitisPrimary amoebic meningoencephalitis
Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis is a disease of the central nervous system caused by infection from Naegleria fowleri.-Presentation:...
, a disease that usually does not cause the syndrome in real life.
The syndrome features prominently in the Rupert Thomson
Rupert Thomson
-Biography:Following the sudden death of his mother, Rupert Thomson was educated as a boarder at Christ's Hospital School. At seventeen, he was awarded a scholarship to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he studied Medieval History and Political Thought. He worked for four years as a...
novel The Insult
The Insult
The Insult is a novel by Rupert Thomson. The novel describes the life of Martin Blom, who is shot while walking to his car and consequently goes blind. While being treated in a clinic, he seemingly regains his vision, but only at night...
. It is also mentioned in the science fiction novel Blindsight
Blindsight (science fiction novel)
Blindsight is a hard science fiction novel by Peter Watts, published by Tor Books in 2006. On 29 March 2007, it was nominated for the Hugo Award in the Best Novel category. Watts has also released the novel online under the by-nc-sa Creative Commons license...
, by Peter Watts.
It is mentioned frequently as "Anton's Blindness" as one of the primary metaphors in Raj Patel's
Raj Patel
Raj Patel is a British-born American academic, journalist, activist and writer who has lived and worked in Zimbabwe, South Africa and the United States for extended periods. He is best known for his 2008 book, Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System...
The Value of Nothing
The Value of Nothing
The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy is a book by Raj Patel about the economic crisis and its effect on consumers...
.