The construction of anosognosia: history and implications

Abstract

The construction of anosognosia as a clinical 'disorder' resulted from the convergence (in the work of various writers and culminating in Babinski) of a name, a concept, and a clinical phenomenon. During the early stages of this convergence, unawareness of neurological dysfunction was not considered as an independent clinical phenomenon. Started in the work of Anton, the process of separating it as a differentiable clinical state is completed by Babinski who reaffirmed the semiological independence of 'unawareness'. The history of the construction of 'anosognosia' parallels the late 19th century debate on the nature and brain inscription of the concept of 'consciousness'.

Keywords: Anosognosia; Anton; Babinski; Insight; Neurological dysfunction; Neuropsychology; Unawareness; von Monakow.