Abstract
Introduction: Although important to cognitive neuropsychiatry and theories of delusions, Capgras delusion has largely been reported in single case studies. Bell et al. [2017. Uncovering Capgras delusion using a large scale medical records database. British Journal of Psychiatry Open, 3(4), 179–185] previously deployed computational and clinical case identification on a large-scale medical records database to report a case series of 84 individuals with Capgras delusion. We replicated this approach on a new database from a different mental health service provider while additionally examining instances of violence, given previous claims that Capgras is a forensic risk. Methods: We identified 34 additional cases of Capgras. Delusion phenomenology, clinical characteristics, and presence of lesions detected by neuroimaging were extracted. Results: Although most cases involved misidentification of family members or partners, a notable minority (20.6%) included the misidentification of others. Capgras typically did not present as a monothematic delusion. Few cases had identifiable lesions with no evidence of right-hemisphere bias. There was no evidence of physical violence associated with Capgras. Conclusions: Findings closely replicate Bell et al. (2017). The majority of Capgras delusion phenomenology conforms to the “dual route” model although a significant minority of cases cannot be explained by this framework.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 123-134 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Cognitive Neuropsychiatry |
Volume | 24 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 4 Mar 2019 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Delusional misidentification
- forensic
- neuropsychiatry
- psychosis
- schizophrenia
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Cognitive Neuroscience