Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is a neurodegenerative progression that occurs in posterior brain regions. There is much debate on the classification of the disease. Many of the neurodegenerative qualities that transpire later on in the disease are comparable to Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but initial onset of PCA impacts different cortical areas (Mendez et al. 2002). In PCA, most affected areas of the brain occur in the occipital lobe, parietal lobe, and occipitotemporal regions. Neuroimaging of patients with PCA show a notable loss of grey matter, or atrophy, within these areas, most frequently in the occipital lobe.
Patients presenting with PCA typically have symptoms including, but not limited to: trouble grasping items in front of them, judging distances when driving, climbing stairs, seeing letters move when reading, and becoming lost in the text while reading. Onset of PCA typically occurs from mid-1950s to early 1960s with presentation of progressive visual impairment (Pantel...
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Richards, L., Woods, A.J. (2018). Posterior Cortical Atrophy. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_9108
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