Visual hallucinations and Capgras delirium in a patient with right occipito-temporal ischemic stroke

Abstract

The ability to recognize an individual’s face and determine whether it is familiar or unfamiliar is an adaptive skill that develops during the first few months of life. In patients suffering from Capgras syndrome, this capacity is impaired, temporarily in relation to an acute organic pathology or chronically triggering a generally positive adaptive attitude. Through a real case of an 81-year-old patient who presents a neurological focal point accompanied by visual hallucinations and a disorder in the perception of a relative as “strange”; this peculiar syndrome is introduced, generally underdiagnosed, which can facilitate the location of dysfunctional brain areas and relate it to the rest of higher cognitive functions. This delirium is an example of how the brain makes a “logical response”; to a serious lack of information connection. We will also talk about several physio-pathological theories in this respect and their relationship with certain acute pathologies and other chronic ones such as schizophrenia or dementia.

Keywords

• visual hallucinations
• capgras delirium
• ischemic stroke