Two types of confabulation.

Confabulation: What is associated with its rise and fall? A study in brain injury

“…Stepwise regression based on change in cognitive estimates and change in AMI scores predicted 44% of the variance in terms of change in total confabulation scores. Again, this finding is consistent with the observations of some of the older literature, which placed emphasis on a combination of executive and memory dysfunction (Baddeley & Wilson, 1986;Kopelman, 1987;DeLuca & Cicerone, 1991). It highlights the inability to edit out errors, as demonstrated by Shallice and Evans (1978), and a weak autobiographical memory, as postulated by Johnson et al (1997).…”

“…Spontaneous confabulation has been defined as "a persistent, unprovoked outpouring of erroneous memories" (Kopelman, 1987(Kopelman, , 1999(Kopelman, , 2010, whereas momentary or provoked confabulations consist of fleeting intrusion errors or distortions when memory is challenged or tested. However, this distinction has been challenged.…”

Confabulation: Damage to a specific inferior medial prefrontal system

“…I t i n v o l v e s t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f f a l s e a c c o u n t s w h i c h t h e p a t i e n t in most cases believes to be true, and involves no intent to deceive the listener. These f a l s e a c c o u n t s m a y e i t h e r b e " p r o v o k e d " , i n r e s p o n s e t o a m e m o r y t e s t o r q u e s t i o n i n g , o r " s p o n t a n e o u s " , i n w h i c h t h e r e i s a n u n p r o v o k e d o u t p o u r i n g o f e r r o n e o u s m e m o r i e s (Kopelman, 1987), and the content may range from subtle alterations of true events to bizarre and implausible stories. The study of amnesic conditions has been very informative in the study of memory.…”

“…Confabulation is frequently reported in association with aetiologies involving frontal lobe damage, including rupture and repair of anterior communicating artery aneurysms (Alexander and Freedman, 1984;Baddeley and Wilson, 1988;Burgess and McNeil, 1999;Dab et al, 1999;Damasio et al, 1985;DeLuca and Diamond, 1995;DelbecqDerouesne et al, 1990;Fischer et al, 1995;Kapur and Coughlan, 1980;Kopelman et al, 1995;Moscovitch 1989;Stuss et al, 1978;Vilkki, 1985), posterior communicating artery aneurysms (Dalla Barba et al, 1997;Mercer et al, 1977), frontal tumours (Fotopoulou et al, 2004), head injury (Baddeley and Wilson, 1988;Berlyne, 1972;Box et al, 1999;Damasio et al, 1985;Demery et al, 2001;Moscovitch and Melo, 1997), frontotemporal dementia (Nedjam et al, 2000; Moscovitch and Melo , 1 9 9 7 ) , K o r s a k o f f ' s s y n d r o m e (Berlyne, 1972;Benson et al, 1996;Dalla Barba et al, 1990;Kopelman, 1987;Kopelman et al, 1997;Korsakoff, 1955;Mercer et al, 1977;Talland, 1965), A l z h e i m e r ' s d i s e a s e ( D a l l a B a r b a et al, Kern et al, 1992;Kopelman, 1987;Nedjam et al, 2000;Tallberg and Almkvist, 2001), and herpes simplex encephalitis (Del Grosso Destreri et al, 2002;Moscovitch and Melo, 1997). Nearly all the evidence regarding the critical lesion site has come fro...…”

“…In addition to memory deficits, confabulation is often associated with poor performance on executive tests (Baddeley and Wilson, 1988;Cunningham et al, 1997;Kapur and Coughlan, 1980;Kopelman, 1987;Mattioli et al, 1999;Stuss and Benson, 1986;Stuss et al, 1978). Several authors have therefore proposed it to result from an amnesia overlaid with a frontal dysexecutive impairment (Baddeley and Wilson, 1988;De Luca and Diamond, 1995;Kern et al, 1992;Kopelman, 1987;Kapur and Coughlan, 1980;Mercer et al, 1977;Shapiro et al, 1981;Stuss et al, 1978), with the degree of confabulation being determined by the degree of executive dysfunction. However, recent reports indicate that the critical cognitive deficit associated with confabulation may be more specific than general executive dysfunction.…”