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Always Getting Lost? You May Suffer from A Newly Discovered Brain Disorder
By June Campbell of Nightcats Multimedia Productions
Are you one of those people who gets lost easily, perhaps even in your own neighborhood? Perhaps even in your own home? Do you get disoriented in hotel corridors, shopping malls, university campuses or large department stores? Is getting around in unfamiliar environments a major challenge for you? If you found yourself nodding in recognition, you may be suffering from a brain disorder known as Developmental Topographical Disorientation (DTD). Canadian neuroscientists Giuseppe Iaria and Jason S. Barton discovered the condition in 2008, and since then have found that DTD occurs more frequently than they originally expected. A surprising four hundred cases have been documented within the past year alone – and more are showing up regularly as news of the discovery spreads. The researchers point out that DTD suffers have a pervasive and often devastating condition. They are not to be confused with people displaying minor tendencies to disorientation, such as losing their cars in large parking lots or experiencing difficulty reading maps. According to an August 14, 2009 news report in the Vancouver Sun , sufferers are likely to be intelligent, high functioning people in every other way, but lack the ability to orient themselves when something happens to momentarily disrupt their sense of where they are. Some persons with DTD also experience difficulty recognizing faces, including faces that are familiar to them. Typically, they have no other cognitive impairment and no sign of damage to the brain, although DTD can occur in conjunction with other conditions and disorders. Iaria explained that the ability to “find one’s way” or to orient oneself in one’s surroundings is a complex mental process. It depends in part on our ability to create “mental maps” of our surroundings. People suffering from DTD cannot create this mental map, and so are prone to get lost regularly or even daily. Although the condition may occur in degrees of severity, those with the most extreme symptoms get lost daily and may suddenly find themselves unable to navigate their home, their neighborhood or their route to their workplace. Many rely on cabs to get around, or on GPS systems or other orientation aids to get themselves from Point A to Point B. According to the Vancouver Sun report written by Gwendolyn Richards, Iaria described the condition as “very devastating”. “It doesn’t matter what kind of life you have, you don’t take a cab to go downstairs to buy a sandwich,” he said. Explaining their condition to skeptical family, friends and acquaintances adds to the stress and frustration that these people experience regularly. Iaria and Barton have developed an online test that can assess the presence and degree of Developmental Topographical Disorientation in individuals. The test can take up to ninety minutes to complete, depending on individual progress. It tests for the ability to form mental maps, as well as for other orientation skills including ability to recognize landmarks, signs and faces. Those test takers who provide their email address will receive a score and a brief explanation of how they fared in the various aspects of the test. Eventually, the researchers hope that information gathered from the confidential test will help them to discover the cause of the condition and to lead to a treatment that will help sufferers cope or reduce the impact of the disorder. For more information or to take the test, visit www.gettinglost.ca
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Contributor's Note
June Campbell is a business writer and Internet marketer. Visit her web site for guides to writing business proposals, business plans, non-disclosure agreements, joint venture agreements and more. June suffers from a milder form of DTD.
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Getting Lost
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This article reminded me of an article I read about prosopagnosia. And indeed you say that some people have both. You know, I can't shake the suspicion that researchers are just making all this stuff up and slapping their knees when the media laps it up!
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