Journal

The Japanese journal of neuropsychology

[Vol.31 No.2 contents]
Japanese/English

Full Text of this Article
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ArticleTitle Recurrent pareidolia in a patient with dementia with Lewy bodies
Language J
AuthorList Kayoko Yokoi1)2), Yoshiyuki Nishio2), Makoto Uchiyama3), Etsuro Mori2)
Affiliation 1)Department of Occupational Therapy, Yamagata Prefectural University of Health Sciences
2)Department of Behavioral Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine
3)Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Niigata University of Health and Welfare
Publication Japanese Journal of Neuropsychology: 31 (2), 136-143, 2015
Received Feb 14, 2013
Accepted Aug 18, 2014
Abstract A woman with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) experienced recurrent pareidolic illusions, in which she misperceived a tank on the top of the building as an old woman. The illusions of the old woman were accompanied by vivid feeling of reality, which is commonly documented in visual hallucinations in DLB patients. These findings suggest that abnormal feeling of reality or lack of insight for misperceived objects plays a substantial role in visual misperception in DLB. After treatment with donepezil, the patient's visual hallucinations and pareidolias were remarkably improved and she gained a correct insight into erroneous perceptual experiences in the past. These findings implicate that the cholinergic system is involved in formation of insight and feeling of reality for perceptual experiences.
Keywords pareidolias, visual hallucinations, acetylcholine

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