Awareness of Deficit after Brain Injury: Clinical and Theoretical Issues
Author(s): George P. Prigatano (Editor), Daniel L. Schacter
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication Date: January 24, 1991
Edition: 1st
Language: English
Print length: 288 pages
ISBN-10: 0195059417
ISBN-13: 9780195059410
Book Description
This volume provides, for the first time, multidisciplinary perspectives on the problem of awareness of deficits following brain injury. Such deficits may involve perception, attention, memory, language, or motor functions, and they can seriously disrupt an individual’s ability to function. However, some brain-damaged patients are entirely unaware of the existence or severity of their deficits, even when they are easily noticed by others. In addressing these topics, contributors cover the entire range of neuropsychological syndromes in which problems with awareness of deficit are observed: hemiplegia and hemianopia, amnesia, aphasia, traumatic head injury, dementia, and others. On the clinical side, leading researchers delineate the implications of awareness of deficits for rehabilitation and patient management, and the role of defense mechanisms such as denial. Theoretical discussions focus on the importance of awareness disturbances for better understanding such cognitive processes as attention, consciousness, and monitoring.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Excellent.”–Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease”This volume provides virtually all of the important and clinically relevant information on unawareness and denial for clinicians and researchers who are interested in studying this phenomenon….Makes an important contribution to the field of traumatic brain injury and neuropsychological rehabilitation. It is recommended reading if for no other reason than it is the best book on the topic of unawareness since the treatise of Weinstein and Kahn. Its strength lies in its theoretical foundation, but its beauty lies in its clinical application. To remain ignorant of the clinical and theoretical issues contained in this book would be not at all bliss!”–The Clinical Neuropsychologist”Represents an historic milestone in the development of the field, the first comprehensive treatment of the subject since Weinstein and Kahn’s (1955) famous monograph on denial of illness. For readers who want a mix of historical background and up-to-date data, and who want some exposure to theoretical and practical information, this is as close to one-stop shopping as the field has to offer.”–Contemporary Psychology”A landmark event…One of the most important teaching tools for any member of the rehabilitation team.” –Brain Injury”The contributors to this excellent volume are all investigators who have made important contributions to the study of anosognosia….This is one of the few attempts to bring together a multidisciplinary overview of research relating to the phenomenon of unawareness of deficit and can be recommended very highly to clinical neuropsychologists, behavioral neurologists, psychiatrists as well as rehabilitation professionals.”–Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology
From the Back Cover
The editors of this volume shared a common interest in exploring what they felt was an important clinical and theoretical phenomenon: altered awareness after brain injury. Clinical experience indicated that brain-injured patients are often unaware of the very deficits that impair their performance in everyday life. This book explores these issues in hopes that the information obtained from studying disorders of self-awareness will ultimately lead not only to greater scientific insights into the nature of disturbed awareness following injury, but also to improved rehabilitation of patients with brain dysfunctions.
About the Author
George P. Prigatano is at Barrow Neurological Institute. Daniel L. Schacter is at Harvard University.
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