Gnosia
Historical document, translated for reference. It reflects medical knowledge of the 1920s–30s and is not medical advice.
Summary
This 1930s encyclopedia article defines gnosia as a higher-order phenomenon than simple sensitivity, involving the recognition and understanding of the meaning of stimuli. It highlights various modalities such as stereognosis, visual gnosia, and auditory gnosia, noting that neurology primarily focuses on the disorders of these functions known as agnosias.
Encyclopedia entry (1928–1936)
GNOSIA (from the Greek gnosis - knowledge, recognition) represents a phenomenon of a higher order than sensitivity: not only the perception of stimuli, but also the recognition of their meaning, especially their symbolic significance. Such is, for example, the concept of stereognosis—the ability to recognize objects by palpation—and further, the concept of visual gnosia, i.e., the ability to recognize objects through visual perception, auditory gnosia, and so on. In neurology, it is mainly a question of disorders of various types of gnosia, the so-called agnosias (see).
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Cite this page
“Gnosia.” Soviet Medical Encyclopedia. English translation of Bolshaya Meditsinskaya Entsiklopediya, 1st ed. (Moscow, 1928–1936), ed. N. A. Semashko. https://sovietmedicalencyclopedia.pages.dev/article/gnosia/