Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T23:43:29.839Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Delusional Misidentification, AIDS and the Right Hemisphere

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Paul Crichton*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Charing Cross Hospital, London W6 8RP
Shôn Lewis
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, London W6 8RP
*
Correspondence

Abstract

A patient with AIDS developed the Capgras' syndrome as part of an acute confusional state resulting from an opportunistic infection. Neuropsychological testing suggested non-dominant hemisphere dysfunction with impaired facial recognition. Serial CT scanning showed a right parietal lesion which resolved after the psychosis improved. These findings provide further evidence for the hypothesis that selective visuospatial deficits underlie the development of Capgras' syndrome.

Type
Brief Reports
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1990 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexander, M. P., Stuss, D. T. & Benson, D. R. (1979) Capgras syndrome: a reduplicative phenomenon. Neurology, 29, 334339.Google Scholar
Berson, R. J. (1983) Capgras’ syndrome. American Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 969978.Google ScholarPubMed
Burns, A. (1985) The oldest patient with Capgras syndrome? British Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 719720.Google Scholar
Capgras, J. & Reboul-Lachaux, J. (1923) Illusion des sosies dans un delire systemise chronique. Bulletin de la Societe Clinique de Medicine Men tale, 2, 616.Google Scholar
Capgras, J. & Carette, P. (1924) Illusion des sosies et complexe d'Oedipé. Annalès Medico-Psychologiques, 82, 48.Google Scholar
Capgras, J. & Luccini, P. & Schiff, P. (1924) Du sentiment d'estrangete a l'illusion des sosies. Bulletin de la Societe Clinique de Medicine Mentale, 121, 210217.Google Scholar
Christodoulou, G. N. (1977) The syndrome of Capgras. British Journal of Psychiatry, 130, 556564.Google Scholar
Damasio, A. R. (1985) Prosopagnosia. Trends in Neurosciences, 8, 132133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halstead, S., Riccio, M., Harlow, P., et al (1988) Psychosis associated with HIV infection. British Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 618623.Google Scholar
Kapur, N., Turner, A. & King, C. (1988) Reduplicative paramnesia: possible anatomical and neuropsychological mechanisms. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 51, 579581.Google Scholar
Lewis, S. W. (1987) Brain imaging in a case of Capgras’ syndrome. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 117121.Google Scholar
Lewis, S. W. (1989) Capgras’ syndrome. British Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 270271.Google Scholar
Maccallum, W. A. G. (1973) Capgras’ symptoms with an organic basis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 123, 639642.Google Scholar
Pick, A. (1903) Clinical studies: III. On reduplicative paramnesia. Brain, 26, 260267.Google Scholar
Staton, R. D., Brumback, R. A., Wilson, H. (1982) Reduplicative paramnesia: a disconnection syndrome of memory. Cortex, 18, 2326.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1978) Mental Disorders: Glossary and Guide to their Classification in Accordance with the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD–9). Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.