- spontaneous stereognosic sensation
- A term indebted to the medical term stereogno-sis, from the Greek words stereos (solid, tight, compact) and gnosis (insight), meaning the ability to identify solid objects through touch. The term spontaneous stereognosic sensation is used to denote a * stereognosic (or * tactile) hallucination mimicking the sensation of an object held in the palm of one's hand, when the hand is actually empty. The hallucinatory experience may be so vivid that the affected individual feels able to describe the object's size, shape, texture, and temperature. The occurrence of spontaneous stereognosic sensations is associated primarily with lesions affecting the sensory cortex. They should not be confused with *allachaesthesia and * phantom alloaesthesia.ReferencesAllen, I.M. (1928). Unusual sensory phenomena following removal of a tumour of the sensory cortex. Journal of Neurology and Psychopathology, 9, 133-145.Critchley, M. (1953). The parietal lobes. London: Edward Arnold & Co.
Dictionary of Hallucinations. J.D. Blom. 2010.