Mirrored-self misidentification

Mirrored-self misidentification is the delusional belief that one's reflection in the mirror is another person – typically a younger or second version of one's self, a stranger, or a relative.[1] This delusion occurs most frequently in patients with dementia[2] and an affected patient maintains the ability to recognize others' reflections in the mirror.[3] It is caused by right hemisphere cranial dysfunction that results from traumatic brain injury, stroke, or general neurological illness.[4] It is an example of a monothematic delusion, a condition in which all abnormal beliefs have one common theme, as opposed to a polythematic delusion, in which a variety of unrelated delusional beliefs exist.[1] This delusion is also classified as one of the delusional misidentification syndromes (DMS).[4] A patient with a DMS condition consistently misidentifies places, objects, persons, or events.[4] DMS patients are not aware of their psychological condition, are resistant to correction and their conditions are associated with brain disease – particularly right hemisphere brain damage and dysfunction.[5]

  1. ^ a b Coltheart, M (2011). "The mirrored-self misidentification delusion". Neuropsychiatry. 1 (6): 521–523. doi:10.2217/npy.11.55.
  2. ^ Connors, Michael H.; Barnier, Amanda J.; Langdon, Robyn; Cox, Rochelle E.; Polito, Vince; Coltheart, Max (2013). "Delusions in the Hypnosis Laboratory: Modeling Different Pathways to Mirrored-Self Misidentification". Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice. 1 (2): 184–198. doi:10.1037/css0000001.
  3. ^ Feinberg, Keenan (2005). Lost self: Pathologies of the brain and identity. Cary, NC: Oxford University Press. pp. 131–147.
  4. ^ a b c Villarejo, Alberto; Martin, Verónica Puertas; Moreno-Ramos, Teresa; Camacho-Salas, Ana; Porta-Etessam, Jesús; Bermejo-Pareja, Félix (2011). "Mirrored-self misidentification in a patient without dementia: evidence for right hemispheric and bifrontal damage". Neurocase. 17 (3): 276–284. doi:10.1080/13554794.2010.498427. PMID 20812138. S2CID 13571724.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Feinberg 20 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).