Delusion of inanimate doubles: description of a case of focal retrograde amnesia.
This paper reports the case of a patient, M.P., who developed delusion of inanimate doubles, without Capgras syndrome, after traumatic brain injury. His delusional symptoms were studied longitudinally and the cognitive impairments associated with delusion were investigated. Data suggest that M.P. did 'perceive' the actual differences between doubles and originals rather than 'confabulate' them. The cognitive profile, characterized by retrograde episodic amnesia, but neither object processing impairment nor confabulations, supports this hypothesis. The study examines the nature of object misidentification based on Ellis' and Staton's account and proposes a new account based on concurrent unbiased retrieval of semantic memory traces and biased recollection of episodic memory traces.
Unità di Geriatria, Dipartimento di Medicina Interna, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milano, Italy. carlo.abbate@guest.unimi.it
Carlo
C
Abbate
Pietro Davide
PD
Trimarchi
Gian Pietro
GP
Salvi
Anna Maria
AM
Quarenghi
Carlo
C
Vergani
Claudio
C
Luzzatti
D000328:Adult; D000377:Agnosia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D000648:Amnesia, Retrograde / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D002194:Capgras Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003702:Delusions / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D021641:Recognition, Psychology