Loss of ability to recognize or to acknowledge an illness or bodily defect; usually associated with right parietal lesions.
A syndrome in which a person with a paralysed limb claims it is still functioning. One of Professor Ramachandran's patients, who had suffered a stroke which had paralysed the left side of her body, refused to accept that her arm couldn't move. Even though lucid in every other aspect (including awareness of the fact that she had suffered a stroke) she claimed her left arm was carrying out tasks even though clearly it wasn't. Anosognosia means denial of illness. An explanation may involve close analysis of the different roles of the left and right hemispheres of the brain.
An impairment of the brain that prevents sufferers from realizing they are mentally ill and need treatment.
Anosognosia is a condition in which a person who suffers disability due to brain injury seems unaware of or denies the existence of their handicap. This may include unawareness of quite dramatic impairments, such as blindness or paralysis. It was first named by neurologist Joseph Babinski in 1914, although relatively little has been discovered about the cause of the condition since its initial identification.