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Delusional Misidentification and the Role of the Right Hemisphere in the Appreciation of Identity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2018

J. Cutting*
Affiliation:
Bethlem Royal Hospital, Monks Orchard Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 3BX

Extract

For over 50 years, Capgras' syndrome (Capgras & Reboul-Lachaux, 1923) was considered a psychiatric curiosity, fit only for inclusion among other ‘rarities’ in psychiatric textbooks and explicable only in psychodynamic terms. In the last few years, however, the number of publications on the topic has increased enormously, and three solid facts have emerged which give a clue to its nature. In this article, I shall discuss these three facts and, in the light of them, propose a psychological and neuropsychological explanation for the syndrome.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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