Face Recognition Dysfunction and Delusional Misidentification Syndromes (DMS)

Abstract

It is well known, from the neuropsychological literature, that dysfunction of face recognition is common following brain damage. On the other hand, in several psychopathological conditions, handling of the face as a stimulus could be a central problem; i.e. the recognition or identification of one’s own face, or of another person’s face could be part of the mental dysfunction. Capgras’ syndrome is a typical such case. As defined by Critchley (1979), the Capgras’ syndrome is “the non-recognition of familiar persons, with the postulation of imaginery differences and the further expressed belief that the real person has been replaced by a double”.