The Japanese journal of neuropsychology

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ArticleTitle	A patient with parietal atrophy showing selective inability to point to body parts -Confirmation of impairment specific to body representation in autotopagnosia-
Language	J
AuthorList	Natsuko Tsuruya, Yoshitaka Ohigashi
Affiliation	Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University
Publication	Japanese Journal of Neuropsychology: 22 (4), 252-259, 2006
Received	Mar 8, 2006
Accepted	Apr 24, 2006
Abstract	Autotopagnosia (AT) is characterized by the inability to localize the parts of the body. However, whether AT is a disorder limited to body and whether AT can be attributed to the impairment of representation specific to body are still under discussion. In this study, we report a case of AT following bilateral parietal atrophy. Naming/localization tasks of each parts of one's body, body of others, face, and non-body items (animal/object) were administered to evaluate body specificity of symptoms of AT. The patient showed a selective inability to point to his own body parts but could name these parts (and could name and point to parts of the body of others, non-body items, and face). These results confirmed that AT is a selective deficit for body, and also suggested that AT is impairment of a system specifically devoted to body representations, not semantic-lexical knowledge deficits or the general inability to analyze a whole into its details.
Keywords	autotopagnosia, body schema, body representation, pointing disorder