In a previous post, I had a question about what diseases would not allow the eye to process images. There are many visual processing disorders which make it hard for a kid’s brain to recognize certain letters and shapes. However, there is a neurological disorder called Visual Agnosia. This is a rare disease which prevents the ability to recognize information taken in by the eye.

This disease occurs when the parietal lobes are damaged. The parietal lobes are meant for recognizing images and reading. Symptoms occur as a result of the brain not being able to retrieve the information from damaged parts of the brain. The types of damage that cause this disease include, stroke, tumor, or poisoning from environmental toxins.There are two categories of Visual Agnosia: Apperceptive Agnosia is not being able to differentiate between objects or shapes. The other type of disorder is Associative Agnosia which prevents people from being able to know the use of an object or what an object is, but they cannot recognize the object if they see it. This is different from Alzheimers as it is not a progressive disease and won’t take over the brain, as it is a product of damage to the parietal lobes. However, if a person has Alzheimers, one of the effects of it would be Visual Agnosia.

There is no cure to retrieve the information that cannot be remembered. However, surgery can be done to remove the tumor and the patient will need rehabilitation so they can re-learn what they have forgotten.