VISUAL AGNOSIA IN AN ARTISr Wendy Wapner', Tedd Judd and Howard Gardner (Aphasia Research Center and Psychology Service, Boston Veterans Administration Hospital, and Harvard Project Zero) INTRODUCTION Visual agnosia as an isolated disturbance in the ability to recognize objects presented visually is no longer accepted uncritically as a syndrome (d. Bay, 1953; Critchley, 1964; Milner and Teuber, 1968; Bender and Feldman, 1972). Nonetheless, the term visual agnosia (or agnosic-like disturbances) retains usefulness as a generic name designating all disorders of "higher" visual functions. Moreover, a sufficient number of cases presenting with agnosic-like disorders has now been reported to justify "visual agnosia" as a viable clinical entity, with predictable anatomical correlates (Ajuriaguerra and Hecaen, 1964; Benson, Segarra and Albert, 1974) as well as associated behavioral symptomatology (Newcombe and Ratcliff, 1974; Kinsbourne and Warrington, 1962). Further studies of agnosic-like disorders can yield a number of dividends. First of all, several forms of agnosia have been posited, ranging from prosop- agnosia to simultanagnosia; the legitimacy of these hypothesized syndromes and the possible interrelations among them merit study (d. Frederiks, 1969; Brown, 1972). Second, while visual agnosia as a receptive disorder has been carefully studied (Newcombe and Ratcliff, 1974; Kinsbourne and Warrington, 1962; Rubens and Benson, 1971), the effects of this recognition difficulty upon patients' practic capacities has not yet received adequate attention. Finally, a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms underlying agnosic- like disorders can contribute to better understanding of receptive and practic capacities in normal individuals. In this paper we report on a former amateur artist who presented with an agnosic-like disorder. His condition seems best described as a form of I This research was supported in part by the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke (through Grant NS 11408-04 and NS 06209), the National Institute of Mental Health (through Training Grant No. MH-13894-03 to Cornell University) and Harvard Project Zero. ' 2 Senior authorship was decided between the first two authors by lot. Cortex (1978) 14, 343-364.