"Capgras Syndrome"

[sherlok]

The wonderful world of psychiatry has an explanation for us.

See:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capgras_delusion

[lostworld]

LOL!

Funny how all of us here have this rare disorder...

Well, in this world, I'm happy to be "crazy"!

[sabrina]

I guess that explains this then

www.youtube.com/watch?v=03yzQyrsn90&feature=related

Interesting that the "other mother" is called The BELDAM or Belle Dame, as in La Belle Dame Sans Merci.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coraline

La Belle Dame Sans Merci was a poem by John Keats which described a knight who had been enchanted by a fairy and taken to her world where he couldn't escape.

Belle also sounds like "Bel" or "Baal" suggesting an otherworldly posession by a demonic force which causes people to change personality.

I think these personality changes and perhaps even facial differences could also be explained by posession...After all, so many in hollywood believe in the occult [kabbalah/scientology] and participate in ritual magic, even just by acting in certain films.

This film, Coraline shows how the change in a person's eyes [to empty dark holes/black buttons] indicates this change. And haven't we been saying you can tell somone has been replaced by looking into the eyes??

So these celebs are glamorized, enchanted, replaced, cloned, altered...etc.

Glamour is a Gaelic word meaning to enchant.

Literally: Glam= to grab Our=eye ,to catch the eye, put the hoodoo on someone

Also gives new thought to the term GLAM rock with fey men Bowie and Bolan being the pioneers of that art form.

All words for the same thing really. The essential core of that person was taken away and replaced with something or someone else.

Cloning would also fit into the posession theory. I mentioned before that a clone would provide a cleaner slate for inhabitance by interdimensional beings because there's no original soul personality to push out of the way.

Certainly this movie is picking up on all these possibilities I can't wait to see it!!

[lostworld]

^
Great post Sabrina, thanks!

[faulconandsnowjob]

Ithink these personality changes and perhaps even facial differences could also be explained by posession...After all, so many in hollywood believe in the occult [kabbalah/scientology] and participate in ritual magic, even just by acting in certain films.

Yeah, I've heard a walk-in or a possession can cause changes in the physical appearance.

Cloning would also fit into the posession theory. I mentioned before that a clone would provide a cleaner slate for inhabitance by interdimensional beings because there's no original soul personality to push out of the way.

Yeah, I agree, but I think only a dark being would inhabit a clone. I just don't think a light-being would b/c a clone was made by dark souls.

[beatlies]

JPM's alleged girlfriend, then Faul's, actress Jane Asher is the daughter of high aristocrat Dr. Richard Asher, a top London psychiatrist who identified and named "Munchausen's Syndrome," which is compulsive deep lying disorder in which the patient takes on different identities. Hmmm. JPM, then Faul actually lived in the same house with Dr. Richard Asher and Jane, in his own small room, as if himself were a ward of Asher. Richard Asher had his own popular science TV show for a while. He committed suicide in 1979.

[beatlies]

Jan 19, 2009 13:50:22 GMT -5 beatlies said:

JPM's alleged girlfriend, then Faul's, actress Jane Asher is the daughter of high aristocrat Dr. Richard Asher, a top London psychiatrist who identified and named "Munchausen's Syndrome," which is compulsive deep lying disorder in which the patient takes on different identities. Hmmm. JPM, then Faul actually lived in the same house with Dr. Richard Asher and Jane, in his own small room, as if himself were a ward of Asher. Richard Asher had his own popular science TV show for a while. He committed suicide in 1979.

Richard Asher
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Richard Asher


Born Richard Alan John Asher
3 April 1912(1912-04-03)
Brighton, Sussex [1]
Died 25 April 1969 (aged 57)
Marylebone, London [2]
Cause of death reportedly depression / suicide [3]
Occupation Physician
Spouse(s) Margaret Augusta Eliot
Children Peter Asher
Jane Asher
Clare Asher
Parents Felix and Louise Asher née Stern
Richard Alan John Asher, FRCP (3 April 1912, Brighton – 25 April 1969, Marylebone) was an eminent British Endocrinologist and Haematologist.[3] As the senior physician responsible for the mental observation ward at the Central Middlesex Hospital[4] he described and named Munchausen syndrome in a 1951 article in The Lancet.[5]

Contents [hide]
1 Personal life
2 Ideas and reputation
3 Notable articles
4 The Seven Sins of Medicine
5 The Richard Asher prize
6 References



[edit] Personal life
Richard Asher was born to the Rev Felix Asher and his wife Louise (née Stern). He married Margaret Augusta Eliot at Pancras, London on 27 July 1943,[6] whereupon his father-in-law gave him a complete set of the Oxford English Dictionary, which bioethicist Maurice Pappworth alleged was the source of Asher's 'accidental' reputation as a medical etymologist.[7]. They had three children: Peter Asher (born 1944) - member of the pop duo Peter & Gordon and later record producer, Jane Asher (born 1946) - film and TV actress and novelist, and Clare Asher (born 1948) - radio actress.

The Asher family home above his private consulting rooms at 57 Wimpole Street was briefly notable when Paul McCartney lived there in 1964-1966 during his relationship with Jane Asher.[8]

In 1964 Dr Asher suddenly gave up his hospital post and perhaps all medical activities.[4] He suffered from depression in later life and reportedly died by his own hand at the age of 57.[3]


[edit] Ideas and reputation

Asher was regarded as "one of the foremost medical thinkers of our times",[9] who emphasised the need "to be increasingly critical of our own and other people's thinking".[10] Dr Asher was particularly concerned that "many clinical notions are accepted because they are comforting rather than because there is any evidence to support them".[11]

Richard Asher was hailed as a pioneer[12] in challenging the value of excessive bed rest following treatment,[13] and argued that the Pel-Ebstein fever (a fever characteristic for Hodgkin's disease) was an example of a condition that exists only because it has a name.[14] Asher's 1949 paper "Myxoedematous Madness"[15] alerted a generation of physicians to the interaction between the brain and the thyroid gland. As a result, young and elderly psychiatric patients are now screened for thyroid malfunction.[16] Some of the 'madness' cases are now thought[17] to be the early descriptions of Hashimoto's encephalopathy, a rare neuroendocrine syndrome sometimes presenting with psychosis.


[edit] Notable articles

Richard Asher is remembered today chiefly for his "refreshingly provoking"[3] articles that "sparkle with sequins--his own aphorisms, imaginary dialogue, fantasies, quotations."[18] He thought that medical writing should provide "useful, understandable, and practical knowledge instead of allotov-words-2-obscure-4-any-1,2-succidin-understanding-them."[19] Anthologies of his articles were well-received[20][9], with the Talking Sense collection being described as "still the best advice on medical writing."[21] Notable articles include:

The Dangers of Going to Bed (1947) - "one of the most influential medical papers ever written"[22]
The Seven Sins of Medicine (1949, in Lancet 1949 Aug 27;2(6574):358-60)
Myxoedematous Madness (1949)
Munchausen’s syndrome (1951, in Lancet 1951 Feb 10;1(6650):339-41)
Respectable Hypnosis (1956)
Why Are Medical Journals So Dull? (1958)
The Talking Sense trilogy:
Clinical Sense (1959) with a rueful correction in The Dog in the Night-time (1960)
Making Sense (1959, in Lancet, 1959, 2, 359)
Talking Sense (1959, in Lancet, 1959, 2, 417)

[edit] The Seven Sins of Medicine
Main article: Seven Sins of Medicine
The "Seven Sins of Medicine"[3] is a lecture delivered by Asher and later published in The Lancet, describing medical professional behaviour that is considered inappropriate. These sins are often quoted to students:

Obscurity
Cruelty
Bad Manners
Over-specialisation
Love of the Rare
Common Stupidity
Sloth

[edit] The Richard Asher prize
Since 1995 an annual prize (2008 value £1,200) in memory of Richard Asher has been awarded by the Royal Society of Medicine and the Society of Authors for the best first edition textbook aimed at undergraduate students. [23] The most recent prize was presented by Alexander McCall Smith at a ceremony at the Royal Society of Medicine in London on Wednesday 29th October 2008.


[edit] References
^ GRO Register of Births: JUN 1912 2b 394 BRIGHTON - Richard Asher, mmn = Stern
^ GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1969 5d 1959 ST MARYLEBONE - Richard Asher, DoB = 3 Apr 1912
^ a b c d e Rowat, Bruce M.T. (2001). "Richard Asher and the Seven Sins of Medicine". Humane Health Care (Volume 1, Number 2). Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
^ a b Anonymous (1969-05-10). "R. A. J. Asher (Obituary notice)". British Medical Journal 2 (5653): 388. Full text at PMC: 1983233
^ Asher R (1951). "Munchausen's syndrome". Lancet 1 (6650): 339–41. PMID 14805062.

[artemis]

Jan 19, 2009 13:50:22 GMT -5 beatlies said:

JPM's alleged girlfriend, then Faul's, actress Jane Asher is the daughter of high aristocrat Dr. Richard Asher, a top London psychiatrist who identified and named "Munchausen's Syndrome," which is compulsive deep lying disorder in which the patient takes on different identities. Hmmm. JPM, then Faul actually lived in the same house with Dr. Richard Asher and Jane, in his own small room, as if himself were a ward of Asher. Richard Asher had his own popular science TV show for a while. He committed suicide in 1979.

Is JANE ASHER related to JOHN ASHER, 1st hubbie of JENNY MCCARTHY? Was just thinkin' about a possible connection since JIM CARREY- JENNY's bf - is Canadian, just like FAUL is also supposed to be at some point... Besides, JOHN&JENNY married 11.09 (1999). Hope noones gonna shoot me for that

[beatlies]

"Fregoli Syndrome" named after the Italian actor Leopoldo Fregoli, known for his ability to instantly shift into different roles and identities.


Fregoli delusion


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Jump to: navigation, search


The Fregoli delusion or the delusion of doubles is a rare disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that different people are in fact a single person who changes appearance or is in disguise. The syndrome may be related to a brain lesion, and is often of a paranoid nature with the delusional person believing themselves persecuted by the person they believe is in disguise.

The Fregoli delusion is classed both as a monothematic delusion, since it only encompasses one delusional topic, and as a delusional misidentification syndrome, a class of delusional beliefs that involves misidentifying people, places, or objects[1]. Like Capgras delusion, psychiatrist believe it is related to a breakdown in normal face perception.

Contents [hide]
1 History of Fregoli Syndrome
1.1 Delusional Misidentification Syndromes and Fregoli
1.2 Coexistence of Capgras and Fregoli [3]
2 Signs and symptoms
3 Treatment
3.1 Levodopa Treatment [4]
3.2 Other Drug Treatment Options [5][6][7]
4 Causes
4.1 Traumatic Brain Injury[8][9]
4.2 Fusiform Gyrus [10][11]
4.3 Abnormal P300 [12]
5 Current research
6 See also
7 References


[edit] History of Fregoli Syndrome
The condition is named after the Italian actor Leopoldo Fregoli who was renowned for his ability to make quick changes of appearance during his stage act.

P. Courbon and G. Fail first reported the condition in a 1927 paper (Syndrome d’illusion de Frégoli et schizophrénie) [2]. They described a 27-year-old woman who believed she was being persecuted by two actors she often saw at the theatre. She believed these people pursued her closely, taking the form of people she knew or met.

[edit] Delusional Misidentification Syndromes and Fregoli
Delusional misidentification syndromes (DMS) are rooted in the inability to register the identity of something, whether it is an object, event, place or even a person. There are various forms of DMS, such as the syndrome of subjective doubles, intermetamorphosis, Capgras syndrome and Fregoli syndrome. However, all of these various syndromes have a common denominator: they are all due to malfunctional familiarity processing during information processing. The most common syndromes are Capgras and Fregoli. Capgras syndrome is the delusional belief that a friend, family member, etc. has been replaced by a twin impostor. Fregoli syndrome is the delusional belief that different people are in fact a single person who is in disguise. Other commonalities among these syndromes are that they are discriminatory in which object(s) are misidentified. Lastly, dopamine hyperactivity is evident in all DMS syndromes and thus, all syndromes utilize antipsychotic medications to help control DMS.

[edit] Coexistence of Capgras and Fregoli [3]
Delusional Misidentification Syndromes contain four types of syndromes: the syndrome of subjective doubles, the syndrome of intermetamorphosis, Fregoli syndrome and Capgras syndrome. Of the four, Fregoli syndrome is the least frequent, followed by Capgras. Of more rarity is the coexistence of both Fregoli and Capgras syndromes. Coexistence of DMSs are enhanced when coupled with other mental disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other mood disorders. Depersonlization and derealization symptoms are usually manifested in patients exhibiting two misidentification delusions. However, such symptoms have been witnessed to cease once the coexisting DMSs are fully developed.

[edit] Signs and symptoms
Fregoli syndrome is the belief that familiar people (i.e. family members, friends, etc.) have been malevolently disguised to appear as strangers.

The following are signs and symptoms of Fregoli's:

delusions
visual memory deficit
deficit in self-monitoring
deficit in self-awareness
hallucinations
deficit in executive functions
deficit in cognitive flexibility
history of seizure activity
epileptogenic activity
[edit] Treatment
[edit] Levodopa Treatment [4]
Levodopa, also known as L-DOPA, is the precursor to several catecholamines, specifically of dopamine, epinephrine and norepinephrine. It is clinically used to treat Parkinson's disease and dopamine-responsive dystonia. Clinical studies have shown that the use of Levodopa can lead to visual hallucinations and delusions. In most patients, delusions were more salient than hallucinations. Over prolonged use of levodopa, the delusions almost occupy all of a patient's attention. In experimental studies, when the concentration of levodopa decreases, the number of reported delusions decreases as well. It has been concluded that delusions related to antiparkinsonian medications are one of the leading causes of Fregoli syndrome.

[edit] Other Drug Treatment Options [5][6][7]
Thorough diagnositc assessment if the beginning for treatment for Fregoli. Once it has been positively identified, effective pharmacotherapy follows. Antipsychotic drugs are the front runners in treatment for Fregoli and other other DMSs. In addition to antipsychotics, anticonvulsant and antidepressants are also prescribed in some treatment courses. Initially, Fregoli's syndrome was often treated with tricyclic antidepressants and neurolytics. If a Fregoli patient has other psychological disorders, treatment often resulted in the use of trifluperazine.

[edit] Causes
[edit] Traumatic Brain Injury[8][9]
Trauma to the right frontal and left temporoparietal areas can lead to Fregoli syndrome. Research by Roane, et. al have shown that significant deficits in executive and memory functions follows shortly after damage in the right frontal or left temporoparietal areas. Tests performed on patients that have suffered from a brain injury revealed that basic attention ability and visuomotor processing speed are typically normal. However, these patients made many errors when they were called to participate in detailed attention tasks. Selective attention tests involving auditory targets were also performed and brain injured patients had many errors; this meant that they were deficient in their response regulation and inhibition.

The most profound finding in Roane, et. al's paper is that performance tests on the retrieval process of memory was significantly damaged in brain injured patients. They found, however, that these patients chose incorrect answer that were related semantically (i.e. chose vegetable instead of fruit). More importantly, test of visual memory showed that there was a severe inability in visual recollection. Overall, brain injured patients were severely impaired in many executive functions such as self-monitoring, mental flexibility, and social reasoning. So how does this relate to the Fregoli syndrome — an illusion of positive doubles where there is an over-familiarity with the environment.

This over-familiarity may be caused by 4 reasons:

impaired self monitoring — passive acceptance of inaccurate conclusions
faulty filtering — tendency to select salient associations rather than a relevant one
mnemonic association from routine thoughts
perseveration — unable to come up with an alternate hypothesis
Thus, executive dysfunction appears to be necessary to identify one as having Fregoli's syndrome.

[edit] Fusiform Gyrus [10][11]
Current research has shown that lesions in the right temporal lobe and the fusiform gyrus may contribute to DMSs. MRIs of patients exemplifying Fregoli symptoms have shown parahippocampal and hippocampal damage in the anterior fusiform gyrus, as well as the middle and inferior of the right temporal gyri. The inferior and medial of the right temporal gyri are the storage locations for long term memory in retrieving information on visual recognition, specifically of faces; thus, damage to these intricate connections could be one of the leading factors in face misidentification disorders.

Recently, a face specific area in the fusiform gyrus has been discovered and is in close proximity to the anterior fusiform gyrus. MRI studies performed by Hudson, et. al. have shown lesions in the anterior fusiform gyrus, which is in close proximity to the face specific area, may also be associated with Fregoli syndrome and other DMSs. Such damage may cause disruption in long term visual memory and lead to improper associations of human faces.

On another note, our brain interprets visual scenes in two pathways: one is via the parietal-occipital dorsal pathway (visual spatial material is analyzed here) and second is the temporal-occipital ventral pathway (recognizes objects and faces). Thus, lesions in either structures or disruption of delicate connections may produce DMSs.

[edit] Abnormal P300 [12]
Delusional misidentification syndrome is thought to occur due to a dissociation between identification and recognition processes. The integration of information for further processing is referred to as working memory (WM). The P300 (P stands for positive voltage potential and the 300 is for the 300 millisecond poststimulus) is an index of WM and it used during a WM test in DMS patients. In comparison to normal patients, DMS patients generally exhibit an attenuated amplitude of P300 at many abductions. These patients also exhibit prolonged latencies of P300 at all abductions. These implications suggest that DMSs are accompanied by abnormal WM, specifically affecting the prefrontal cortex (both outside and inside).

Past studies have shown correlations between DMS and damages to the right hemispheric function, which has an array of functions (insight, 3D shapes, art awareness, imagination, left-hand control, music awareness, etc.). In recent years, the P300 auditory component, which forms in response to a detection task that occurs a short time after a stimulus, has acquired a great deal of recognition. The P300 component is an index of mental activity in that its amplitude increases highly with increased stimuli. This P300 component is correlated with updating the working memory to what is expected in the environment. Other findings enhance the belief that defects in the working memory are associated with DMS. Papageorgio et. al's paper, psychological evidence for altered information processing in delusional misidentification syndromes, hypothesized that electrophysiological brain activity in the working memory and P300 component can help identify the mechanisms of DMS. Thus, they concentrated on P300 released during a working memory test in DMS patients.

Papageorgio et. al also found that DMS patients had a lower P300 amplitude in the right hemisphere compared to the control group (non-DMS patients). From this result, the researchers implied that shorter P300 amplitudes are highly correlated with gray matter abnormalities; this finding is consistent with the DMS patients’ characteristics and the presence of gray matter deterioration. DMS patients were also found to have prolonged P300 lag and their memory performance was lower than the control groups. The researchers were, thus, able to imply that DMS patients have trouble in focusing their resources to a stimulus; this was hypothesized to be caused by the neurodegeneration of the right hemisphere. Overall, other research studies have also provided evidence in the correlation of DMS and gray matter degeneration of the right frontal region, which controls attentional resources. This research is important because it can help determine the mechanisms of DMS, which can then help conjure a more affective, target drug and/or treatment plan for those suffering from DMS.

[edit] Current research
The study of DMSs is a hot topic these days, especially since they are often coupled with many psychological disorders (i.e. schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, etc.). Although there is a plethora of information on DMSs, many mysteries on the physiological and anatomical details of DMSs are still missing. An accurate serniological analysis of higher visual anomalies and their corresponding topographic sites may help elucidate the etiology of Fregoli's and other misidentification disorders. Likewise, more neurological evidence of unilateral brain pathology and neuropsychological testing of Fregoli patients will bring more light into the cause of this disorder, as well as new, more effective treatment options.

[edit] See also
Capgras delusion
Delusion
Delusional misidentification syndrome
Monothematic delusion
Schizophrenia
Cotard's Syndrome
Erotomania
Psychosis
Paramnesia
Prosopagnosia
Agnosia
[edit] References
^ Mojtabai R (September 1994). "Fregoli syndrome". Aust N Z J Psychiatry 28 (3): 458–62. doi:10.3109/00048679409075874. PMID 7893241.
^ Ellis HD, Whitley J, Luauté JP (March 1994). "Delusional misidentification. The three original papers on the Capgras, Frégoli and intermetamorphosis delusions. (Classic Text No. 17)". Hist Psychiatry 5 (17 Pt 1): 117–46. doi:10.1177/0957154X9400501708. PMID 11639277.
^ Lykouras L, Typaldou M, Gournellis R, Vaslamatzis G, Christodoulou GN (July 2002). "Coexistence of Capgras and Frégoli syndromes in a single patient. Clinical, neuroimaging and neuropsychological findings". Eur. Psychiatry 17 (4): 234–5. doi:10.1016/S0924-9338(02)00660-0. PMID 12231272. linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0924933802006600.
^ Stewart JT (January 2008). "Frégoli syndrome associated with levodopa treatment". Mov. Disord. 23 (2): 308–9. doi:10.1002/mds.2184310.1002/mds.21843 (inactive 2009-12-13). PMID 18044770.
^ Silva JA, Leong GB, Miller AL (1996). "Delusional misidentification syndromes — Drug treatment options". CNS Drugs 5 (2): 89–102.
^ McAllister TW, Ferrell RB (2002). "Evaluation and treatment of psychosis after traumatic brain injury". NeuroRehabilitation 17 (4): 357–68. PMID 12547983. iospress.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&issn=1053-8135&volume=17&issue=4&spage=357.
^ Christodoulou GN (1977). "Treatment of the "syndrome of doubles"". Acta Psychiatr Belg 77 (2): 254–9. PMID 20738.
^ Feinberg TE, Eaton LA, Roane DM, Giacino JT (June 1999). "Multiple Fregoli delusions after traumatic brain injury". Cortex 35 (3): 373–87. doi:10.1016/S0010-9452(08)70806-2. PMID 10440075.
^ Pires-Barata, S., Gois, J. P., & da Silva, M. H. T. (2008). Fregoli's syndrome and traumatic brain injury.
^ Hudson AJ, Grace GM (2000). "Misidentification syndromes related to face specific area in the fusiform gyrus". J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. 69 (5): 645–8. doi:10.1136/jnnp.69.5.645. PMID 11032619.
^ Perez-Martinez DA, Porta-Etessam J (2007). "Higher visual integration abnormalities, illusions and visual hallucinations". Neurologia: 34–41.
^ Papageorgiou C, Lykouras L, Ventouras E, Uzunoglu N, Christodoulou GN (May 2002). "Abnormal P300 in a case of delusional misidentification with coinciding Capgras and Frégoli symptoms". Prog. Neuropsychopharmacol. Biol. Psychiatry 26 (4): 805–10. doi:10.1016/S0278-5846(01)00293-7. PMID 12188110. linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0278-5846(01)00293-7.
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