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Concept
Reduplicative paramnesia
Summary
Reduplicative paramnesia is the delusional belief that a place or location has been duplicated, existing in two or more places simultaneously, or that it has been 'relocated' to another site. It is one of the delusional misidentification syndromes; although rare, it is most commonly associated with acquired brain injury, particularly simultaneous damage to the right cerebral hemisphere and to both frontal lobes.
Reduplicative paramnesia has been reported in the context of a number of neurological disorders, including stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, tumor, dementia, encephalopathy and various psychiatric disorders.
Taken from the Benson and colleagues study, the following example illustrates some of the core features of the delusion. In this instance, the patient had had a head injury after a fall in his home. The impact had caused a fractured skull and frontal lobe damage to both sides (although more pronounced on the right) owing to the formation of intracerebral hematomas:
A few days after admission to the Neurobehavioural Center, orientation for time was intact, he could give details of the accident (as related to him by others), could remember his doctors' names and could learn new information and retain it indefinitely. He exhibited, however, a distinct abnormality of orientation for place. While he quickly learned and remembered that he was at the Jamaica Plain Veterans Hospital (also known as the Boston Veterans Administration Hospital), he insisted that the hospital was located in Taunton, Massachusetts, his home town. Under close questioning, he acknowledged that Jamaica Plain was part of Boston and admitted it would be strange for there to be two Jamaica Plain Veterans Hospitals. Nonetheless, he insisted that he was presently hospitalized in a branch of the Jamaica Plain Veterans Hospital located in Taunton. At one time he stated that the hospital was located in the spare bedroom of his house.
The illusory relocation to a familiar place (such as a home or town the patient knows well) is a common theme, although occasionally the patient may believe that they are resident in more fantastical or exotic locations.
Official source
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