Hey, there, your guess is as good as mine where neuroanatomy is concerned. Your analysis seems valid.
Yes, contralateral means "the other side."
Quix
The right left confusion, the dressing apraxia, the inability to control my gaze and of course the inferior Harmonious quadrantopsia(visual field defect were the most dominant of the symptoms I had and still have to some degree!
I also have some cognitive damage with thinking, concentrating, multitasking, ect...
The brain is such a complex organ that even the doctors don't understand everything about! But I decided that when I am in thier office and they start talking about all of the neurological things, test,ect..., that I wanted to at least have a general idea of what they were talking about, I read and try to learn as much as I can. This helps me to stay with them when they are discussing my health and also gives me some control over my own care.
~Santana~
Oh, yeah, forgot to mention that if you haven't asked for a neuro-psych exam yet, do so. It will give you an idea of which bits aren't working right, and will help your doctor.
http://subtlebraininjury.com/neuropsychology3.html
Hey, Santana - take a look at this page. It's got a list of brain structures, and some common problems associated with damage in those areas.
http://www.waiting.com/brainfunction.html
During my flare in March 07, I had a lot of cognitive problems, which I've decided were because of the punctate lesions in my right parietal. I've had some loss of my problem-solving ability, as well as vocabulary and attention/listening skills.
And evidently I've got a bit of agnosia, as well! I wondered what was going on - I can look at a person, and know who they are, but I'll call them by the wrong name. It's especially bad when I'm tired or just woken up from a nap. This also happens with objects. I went and looked it up - here's the wiki article, with full description.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosia
Forgot something earlier! I will blame it on cog Fog, lol!
Quix, If you do get the chance to read this I am wondering what you think about Balian's syndrome. It says if you have bilateral lesions on each side on the Parietal lobes that it can cause this syndrome, And I do have bilateral Parietal lesions, larger on the left.
I also read on the graph that deep lesions of the radiations on either of the Parietal lobes could cause a contralateral visual field defect called an inferior quadrantopsia, and this is the exact visual field defect that I have. Does contralateral mean on the opposite side of the lesion? If that is what it means then that would make sense for me because I have lesions on both sides and the visual field defect is harmonious(meaning on both sides of the vision field). Just wondering what you think about this maybe being the cause of my visual field defect!
~Santana~
You're welcome, there was too much for me to try to explain it all, so I figured everyone could read about the specific problems that they have too! I find sites like this all the time, usually by googling the symptoms or disfunction I am having and then also putting in brain lesions.
As you can see, each small area of the brain can cause distinct and different symptoms. The problem I had with dressing I think might be called dressing apraxia and it too is caused by Parietal lesions. Most of these that fit with my symptoms are caused by left Parietal lesions. The left Parietal and Occitipal lobes are where the bigger lesions are in my brain, and I believe this is why I had these weird and unusual symptoms.
The Parietal, Occitipal, and Corpus Collosum can have a lot to do with vision and orientation which have been my main problems. I plan to copy this info for my next neuro appointment and then ask him if he thinks I have any of these syndromes, and maybe what the possible prognosis may be if I do!
~Santana~
Thanks for posting these!
Take care, Pat :)
Wow! this is interesting and stuff I never heard about. I'll be checking out these sites.
Thank you!!
Quix