The Japanese journal of neuropsychology

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ArticleTitle	Misidentification syndromes in dementia
Language	J
AuthorList	Yasuhiro Nagahama
Affiliation	Department of Geriatric Neurology, Shiga Medical Center
Publication	Japanese Journal of Neuropsychology: 29 (4), 278-288, 2013
Received
Accepted
Abstract	Characteristics of misidentification syndromes in dementia and their neurobiological basis are discussed. Misidentifications in dementia with Lewy bodies involve Capgras symptom, phantom boarder, reduplicative paramnesia, and simple misidentification of person. They were related to hypoperfusion in the limbic-paralimbic regions, suggesting dysfunction of memory and emotion systems. Persecutory delusions often occur early in Alzheimer disease, whereas misidentifications tend to appear in the later stage of the disease. Although misidentifications in Alzheimer disease are associated with greater global cognitive decline, they can occur early in some cases. In such cases, frontal dysfunction may be also important for formation of misidentifications. Thus, misidentification syndromes in dementia are possibly implicated in dysfunction of both limbic-paralimbic and frontal systems.
Keywords	misidentification, delusional misidentification syndromes, limbic system, frontal lobe, dementia