Anosognosia for Motor Impairment and Dissociations with Patients' Evaluation of the Disorder: Theoretical Considerations

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Abstract
A right brain-damaged patient (CC) with visual neglect was evaluated for the presence and severity of anosognosic disorders, using a test described previously (Berti, Ladavas, & Della Corte, 1996). The patient was repeatedly questioned, on different occasions, about her motor deficits in an attempt to investigate and confront her denial behaviour. The patient showed a severe anosognosia for motor impairment in verbal report, without emisomatoagnosia. However, ''tacit'' knowledge of her physical condition was apparent in most conversations with the patient. Moreover, when asked to score her motor ability, she showed a dissociation between anosognosia on the verbal report and on the self-evaluation test. We conclude that investigations of anosognosia should take account of the patient's personal report and that this is crucial both for disclosing implicit mental content and for interpreting the underlying structure of conscious mental processes.

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