Capgras Syndrome and Other Delusional Misidentification Syndromes.

Capgras Syndrome and Other Delusional Misidentification Syndromes. Front Neurol Neurosci. 2018;42:35-43 Authors: Barrelle A, Luauté JP Abstract The delusional misidentification syndromes (DMS) are a group of disorders, characterized by patients mistaking the identity of people they know, although they recognize them physically. The term DMS is an umbrella term which may cover disorders whose definition extends to objects other than people, such as animals, places, or familiar material objects. The most common and best known DMS is Capgras syndrome. In this disorder, the misidentification leads to the delusional conviction that a close friend or relative has been replaced by an identical - or almost identical - "double," whose original has disappeared. This double is an imposter without name or identity. Most often considered as a persecutor, the double may be subjected to aggression, which may be very violent. Neuropsychological hypotheses based on cerebral dysfunctions are now commonly considered to be at the origin of the disorder. They have been elaborated from achievements in the neurosciences, particularly the facial recognition models. In return, knowledge about the normal cognitive processes involved in recognition and familiarity has benefited from the work that cognitive neuropsychiatry has invested in these disorders. The DMS are observed in various contexts of morbidity: primary psychiatric diagnosis, or secondary to vari...
Source: Frontiers of Neurology and Neuroscience - Category: Neuroscience Tags: Front Neurol Neurosci Source Type: research