Topographical disorientation is the inability to orient oneself in one's surroundings, sometimes as a result of focal brain damage.
Topographical disorientation may be a lifelong deficit, it may result from a stroke, or it can occur as part of a progressive illness.
[citation needed] Developmental topographical disorientation (DTD) refers to the inability to orient from childhood despite the absence of any apparent brain damage, neurological condition or general cognitive defects.
[1] In a case study presented by Stark and colleagues, a patient named GW described the inability to accurately reach for visual targets despite normal vision.
She had no difficulty recognizing and naming objects presented to her, but was unable to point to locations of targets defined by visual, proprioceptive, or audio input.
[5] Heading disorientation is marked by the inability to represent direction of orientation with respect to external environment.
[1] Takahashi and colleagues presented three cases of focal brain damage to the right retrosplenial region through a cerebral hemorrhage that caused a loss in sense of direction.
The finding indicates that the medial temporal lobe is not needed for the retrieval of spatial maps learned prior to injury.
Patients can navigate using strictly spatial information and specific details of landmarks such as house number or door color.
[1] C. A. Pallis described a patient, A.H., who presented with color, face and landmark agnosia as a result of a cerebral embolism.
[10] Topographical disorientation is usually diagnosed with the use of a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests combined with a variety of orientation tasks performed by the participants in both virtual and real surroundings.