Orientation is a function of the
mind
The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances ...
involving awareness of three dimensions:
time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
,
place
Place may refer to:
Geography
* Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population
** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government
* "Place", a type of street or road name
** Of ...
and
person
A person (: people or persons, depending on context) is a being who has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations suc ...
. Problems with orientation lead to ''dis''orientation, and can be due to various conditions. It ranges from an inability to coherently understand person, place, time, and situation, to complete disorientation.
Assessment
Assessment of a person's mental orientation is frequently designed to evaluate the need for focused diagnosis and treatment of conditions leading to an
altered level of consciousness
An altered level of consciousness is any measure of arousal other than normal. Level of consciousness (LOC) is a measurement of a person's arousability and responsiveness to stimuli from the environment.
A mildly depressed level of consciousn ...
. A variety of basic prompts and tests are available to determine a person's level of orientation.
These tests frequently primarily assess the ability of the person (within
EMS Ems or EMS may refer to:
Places and rivers
* Domat/Ems, a Swiss municipality in the canton of Grisons
* Ems (river) (Eems), a river in northwestern Germany and northeastern Netherlands that discharges in the Dollart Bay
* Ems (Eder), a river o ...
) to perform basic functions of life (see:
Airway Breathing Circulation), many assessments then gauge their level of
amnesia
Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or brain diseases,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be temporarily caused by t ...
, awareness of surroundings, concept of time, place, and response to verbal, and sensory stimuli.
Causes of mental disorientation
Disorientation has a variety of causes, physiological and mental in nature. Physiological disorientation is frequently caused by an underlying or acute condition. Disease or injury that impairs the delivery of essential nutrients such as glucose, oxygen, fluids, or electrolytes can impair homeostasis, and therefore neurological function causing mental disorientation. Other causes are psycho-neurological in nature (see also
Cognitive disorder
Neurocognitive disorders (NCDs), also known as cognitive disorders (CDs), are a category of mental health disorders that primarily affect cognitive abilities including learning, memory, perception, and problem-solving. Neurocognitive disorders in ...
) stemming from chemical imbalances in the brain, deterioration of the structure of the brain, or psychiatric states or illnesses that result in disorientation.
Mental orientation is frequently affected by shock, including physiological shock (see:
Shock circulatory) and mental shock (see:
Acute stress reaction
Acute stress reaction (ASR), also known as psychological shock, mental shock, or simply shock, as well as acute stress disorder (ASD), is a psychological response to a terrifying, Psychological trauma, traumatic, or surprising experience. The r ...
, a psychological condition in response to acute stressful stimuli.)
Areas within
precuneus
In neuroanatomy, the precuneus is the portion of the superior parietal lobule on the medial surface of each brain hemisphere. It is located in front of the cuneus (the upper portion of the occipital lobe). The precuneus is bounded in front b ...
,
posterior cingulate cortex
The posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) is the caudal part of the cingulate cortex, located posterior to the anterior cingulate cortex. This is the upper part of the " limbic lobe". The cingulate cortex is made up of an area around the midline of ...
,
inferior parietal lobe,
medial prefrontal cortex
In mammalian brain anatomy, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) covers the front part of the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex. It is the association cortex in the frontal lobe. The PFC contains the Brodmann areas BA8, BA9, BA10, BA11, BA12, BA ...
, lateral frontal, lateral temporal cortices are believed to be responsible for situational orientation.
See also
*
Mental confusion
In psychology, confusion is the quality or emotional state of being bewildered or unclear. The term "acute mental confusion"
*
Mental status examination
The mental status examination (MSE) is an important part of the clinical Psychiatric assessment, assessment process in Neurology, neurological and psychiatric practice. It is a structured way of observing and describing a patient's psychological ...
*
Delirium
Delirium (formerly acute confusional state, an ambiguous term that is now discouraged) is a specific state of acute confusion attributable to the direct physiological consequence of a medical condition, effects of a psychoactive substance, or ...
References
{{Psychophysiology
Cognition