Awareness of Deficit after Brain Injury: Clinical and Theoretical Issues (Hardcover)

by George P. Prigatano (Editor), Daniel L. Schacter (Editor) "At the turn of the century Herman Munk (1881), Sigmund Freud (1891), Jean-Martin Charcot (1894), Constantine von Monakow (1885), Gabriel Anton (1899), Arnold Pick (1908),..." (more)
Key Phrases: anosognosic behavior, aware homunculus, reality monitoring deficits, New York, Oxford University Press, Sigmund Freud (more...)

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

Product 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.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (January 24, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195059417
• ISBN-13: 978-0195059410
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,457,864 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing book detailing a difficult phenomenon, June 10, 1999

By	[e-mail] (usa) - See all my reviews

The book explains a condition called anosognosia which brain injured individuals may experience. As the title explains, anosognosia basically describes an unawareness of deficits. Although much has been written about brain injuries, this extremely important facet of the recovery process is rarely addressed. I am brain injured myself and learned more about my own condition from this book than I have learned in all the other seventeen post-morbid years put together. It is written in highly technical language, more for professionals, I'd guess, than the lay person. All the same, I (a lay person) found it great reading and had no trouble understanding its content.