User:D. Royevich/sandbox

Special Types
Stereognosis(Tactile Gnosis) is defined as the ability to tell the difference and identify objects via touch in the absence of visual or auditory contact. The subject will need to be able to recognize temperature, spatial properties, texture, and size to achieve reach an accurate conclusion to what the object is. This test will give an indication of the status of the Parietal lobe of the Brain. When conducting this test, common objects that the subject is familiar with are used in order to ensure and accurate reading and consistency amongst multiple test with multiple different subjects. By utilizing this test, practitioners will be able to detect and track the presence or effects of Neurodegenerative Diseases such as Alzheimer's disease due to Astereognosis which is the failure to recognize objects via touch without visual recognition .Graphesthesia is the ability in which a person is able to recognize a number or letter that is written on the skin. Like other tactile discrimination tests, it is a measurement of the patient's sense of touch and requires that the patient perform the test voluntarily and without visual contact. The purpose of this test is to detect any defects in the Central nervous system such as lesions in the systems that comprise of the Brainstem, Spinal cord, Thalamus, or Sensory cortex. In order for this test to be carried out successfully, it is imperative that the subject's primary sensations be fully functional. A severe lesion in the CNS would suggest a loss in primary sensation. It is also important that the practitioner and the patient communicate ahead of time about the orientation of the characters, as well as where on the body the figures are to be drawn (usually on the palms). In order to make the test more flexible, the patient may select the correct answer from a series of images in lieu of communicating verbally if the patient suffers from a speech or language impairment. The Graphesthesia test is also more versatile than the Stereognosis test since it doesn't require since it doesn't require for the patient to be able to grasp an object.

Two-point discrimination (2PD) is a neurological examination in which two sharp points are applied to the surface of a part of the body in order to see if the patient recognizes them as two discrete sensations. By conducting this test it is believed that practitioners will be able to discern the relative amount of nerves in the tested location. When conducting the test on the desired part of the body, the practitioner may apply both points simultaneously or with just one point. The pracitioner may switch between the two at random. In order for the examination to be be conducted in the most proper fashion, it is imperative that there be clear and open communication between the subject and the practitioner with the subject being fully conscious and not under any sort of influence while at the same time not making visual contact with the device. The two-point threshold is the smallest distance between the two points. The efficacy of Two-point discrimination has come under scrutiny from many researchers despite being commonly used to this day in a clinical setting. Research studies have shown that the 2PD test do a poor job of determining the degree of which the nerves regain their function after damage, as well as determining the sensory failures in the first place, owing to the test's simplicity, crudeness, and dependence of anecdotal evidence. The research studies have also shown that there is a discrepancy between the data obtained from 2PD tests and data obtained from other tests used to measure tactile spatial acuity. As a result, other methods such as Grating Orientation task (GOT) and two-point orientation discrimination (2POD) have been used as more effective alternatives.

Spatial Discrimination is another form of Two-point discrimination in which the practitioner tests for innervation of the skin with two blunt points of a compass. Just with like 2PD, the patient must be able to discriminate between the two applied points. All other parameters, methods, and objectives of the Spatial Discrimination test and the 2PD test remain the same.

Frequency Discrimination is an auditory test in which the subject must be able to discriminate between two auditory stimuli that are at different frequencies with the sound level being the Negative control. The frequencies are measured from a range of 0.25-8kHz .