Nature of the Misidentified in the Capgras Syndrome

Wallis, Geoffrey

doi:10.1159/000412316

Cited by 8 publications

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“…Historically, it was believed that there was a narrow specificity to the delusion and that the 'misidentification' served to resolve ambiva lent feelings about the object; Berson [24] summed up and Sinkman [25] provided a cri tique of the arguments in favor of the role of early relationships, as well as primitive de fense mechanisms (especially splitting). How ever, the sense of delusional substitution of inanimate objects or irrelevant, unfamiliar persons [6], and the phenomenon of increas ing numbers of substitutes (the 'delirium of doubles') vitiates these theories [7], The atti tudes of patients range across friendliness, ambivalence, neutrality and hostility; ambi valence and hostility seemed to be more a function of the diagnosis of schizophrenia than other factors [26]. Conflicts may play a role in precipitating the delusion but this can be confounded by retrospective distortions [27].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-Substitution as a Variant of the Capgras Syndrome

Signer

1994

Psychopathology

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-Substitution as a Variant of the Capgras Syndrome

Signer

1994

Psychopathology

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“…There is evidence consistent with this claim. It has often been remarked that, whilst it is initially voiced for close relatives, the Capgras delusion does gradually 'spread' to encompass others (Wallis 1986), as would be expected as the patient gradually becomes aware of the extent of the abnormality in emotional responding.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced autonomic responses to faces in Capgras delusion

Ellis

Young

Quayle

et al. 1997

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

233

159

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SUMMARYPeople experiencing the Capgras delusion claim that others, usually those quite close emotionally, have been replaced by near-identical impostors. Ellis & Young suggested in 1990 that the Capgras delusion results from damage to a neurological system involved in orienting responses to seen faces based on their personal significance. This hypothesis predicts that people suffering the Capgras delusion will be hyporesponsive to familiar faces. We tested this prediction in five people with Capgras delusion. Comparison data were obtained from five middle-aged members of the general public, and a psychiatric control group of five patients taking similar anti-psychotic medication. Capgras delusion patients did not reveal autonomic discrimination between familiar and unfamiliar faces, but orienting responses to auditory tones were normal in magnitude and rate of initial habituation, showing that the hyporesponsiveness is circumscribed.

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“…Mind t3 Language tive relationship with the misidentified person, and Wallis (1986) also noted in a review of cases that around 30% were friendly toward the duplicates.…”

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confidence: 93%

Delusions and Brain Injury: The Philosophy and Psychology of Belief

Stone

Young²

1997

Mind & Language

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Circumscribed delusional beliefs can follow brain injury. We suggest that these involve anomalous perceptual experiences created by a deficit to the person's perceptual system, and misinterpretation of these experiences due to biased reasoning. We use the Capgras delusion (the claim that one or more of one's close relatives has been replaced by an exact replica or impostor) to illustrate this argument. Our account maintains that people voicing this delusion suffer an impairment that leads to faces being perceived as drained of their normal affective significance, and an additional reasoning bias that leads them to put greater weight on forming beliefs that are observationally adequate rather than beliefs that are a conservative extension of their existing stock. We show how this position can integrate issues involved in the philosophy and psychology of belief, and examine the scope for mutually beneficial interaction.

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Nature of the Misidentified in the Capgras Syndrome

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Self-Substitution as a Variant of the Capgras Syndrome

Self-Substitution as a Variant of the Capgras Syndrome

Reduced autonomic responses to faces in Capgras delusion

Delusions and Brain Injury: The Philosophy and Psychology of Belief

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