Today, in Weird Patientthe strange disease that makes people with vision problems believe that they see perfectly!
A 73-year-old woman is brought to the emergency department of Radcliffe Hospital in Great Britain after a sudden episode of headache, vomiting, and confusion. Doctors immediately suspect a neurological problem, but a detail during her examination suggests that this is a more atypical case than it seems. The patient does not seem to be able to make fixed eye contact with them. They decide to do a simple test to make sure that their patient is not visually impaired. In front of her, the doctor asks her to close her left eye, then her right, and to tell him when her hand leaves her field of vision. Judging from her reaction, it is clear that she cannot see anything. Yet the patient does not seem to be aware of this! How is this possible?
A blind brain
Doctors ordered a brain scan after she said she had “blood in the brain” four years earlier. Her medical records indicated a hemorrhage on the left side of the occipital lobe, the cause of which could not be determined. The patient said she had recovered well from the accident and has since been living normally at home with her family. The images from the new scan also showed a brain hemorrhage, but this time on the right side of the occipital lobe. Damage to this area of the brain can cause perceptual disturbances. In other words, the eye works perfectly but the brain no longer “sees”.
Anton Babinski’s blindness
The patient suffers from Anton-Babinski blindness, the main characteristic of which is:anosognosiaanosognosia visual, that is, the patient has vision problems but maintains that he sees very well. This is not a form of denial but a symptomsymptom neurological which testifies to a anomalyanomaly in the brain following a neurodegenerative diseaseneurodegenerative disease or after a stroke. The affected person is not aware of their blindness. In addition, they may appear confused and invent memories to fill a memory gap (confabulation). The origins of Anton-Babinski blindness are not yet fully understood, but lesions of the occipital lobe, without the cortexcortex visual is affected, seem to be a key element in the pathologypathology.
The 73-year-old woman was taken to a specialist care unit for victims ofStrokeStroke. With the help of doctors, she regained some of her vision, which is limited to the perception of colorscolors and familiar faces. She was able to return home, but lost her autonomyautonomy.
