A patient who misidentified all surrounding persons as her family

Epilepsy Behav. 2012 Oct;25(2):162-5. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2012.06.025. Epub 2012 Sep 29.

Abstract

This report describes a patient who misidentified all surrounding persons as her family after a cerebral hemorrhage in the right temporal lobe. She had no difficulty with visual face recognition. Single-photon emission computed tomography revealed hyperperfusion in the right amygdala and hippocampus. Electroencephalography showed a bilateral fronto-temporal delta burst intermittently during the symptom. Carbamazepine suppressed the symptom completely. These results suggest that hyperexcitability in the right limbic system and bilateral fronto-temporal cortex might cause the alteration of familiarity. She felt a strong sense of familiarity to others. Perhaps because it lasted a long time, she regarded these other people as her family.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Brain / diagnostic imaging
  • Brain / physiopathology*
  • Brain Mapping
  • Electroencephalography
  • Epilepsies, Partial / diagnostic imaging
  • Epilepsies, Partial / physiopathology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Radionuclide Imaging
  • Recognition, Psychology / physiology*