Charcot-Wilbrand Syndrome
The Charcot-Wilbrand syndrome (CWS) is the dream loss due to localized brain damage. The name goes back to Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–1893) and Hermann Wilbrand (1851–1935), who described patients in 1883 and 1887 who had lost the ability to dream or to remember dreams.
causes
A common cause of CWS is brain damage in the area of the occipital lobe , e.g. B. as a result of an ischemic stroke . Since this area of the brain contains the visual center , tissue damage in this area leads to a disruption of visual stimulus processing. Possible sequelae include:
- total loss of vision ( anopia )
- Loss of color vision ( achromatopsia )
- Loss of the ability to recognize faces and objects ( visual agnosia , soul blindness )
- Charcot-Wilbrand Syndrome.
course
Depending on the extent of the tissue damage, these neurological deficits can be reversible. There are reports of patients who regained their vision after a few days, but in whom the loss of dreams lasted for several months and only then did dream gradually start again.
Others
Dream loss, as in Charcot-Wilbrand syndrome, is not necessarily associated with the absence of REM sleep . While dreaming and REM sleep often occur at the same time, their triggers may be separate from each other.
See also
literature
- Jochen Paulus: On the trail of dreams . In: Berliner Zeitung , September 15, 2004
Web links
- Charcot-Wilbrand Syndrome . MedTerms Medical Dictionary (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d M Bischof, CL Bassetti: Total dream loss: A distinct neuropsychological dysfunction after bilateral PCA stroke . In: Annals of Neurology , Vol. 56, 2004, pp. 583-586, doi: 10.1002 / ana.20246 (English)
