REDUPLICATIVE PARAMNESIA IN PATIENTS WITH FOCAL BRAIN-DAMAGE

Reduplicative paramnesia (RP) has drawn attention as a distinct behavi oral syndrome caused by focal brain damage. To elucidate tile pathogen esis of RP, we assessed its prevalence among patients with focal brain damage and followed those patients with typical RP. Seventy-seven pat ients with focal brain damage (47 with left hemispheric, 21 with right hemispheric, and 9 with bilateral damage) were assessed for the prese nce of RP using a questionnaire intended to elucidate this condition. Two patients showed typical RP for place, and four patients showed aty pical RP (three for place and one for person): altogether, these six p atients constituted 7.8% of the sample, In three patients, the lesions were situated in the right hemisphere; in two, the lesions were bilat eral (right dominant); and in one, the lesions were in the left hemisp here, indicating the relative importance of right hemispheric damage a nd a possible contributory role of additional left hemispheric damage in RP. The case studies of patients with typical RP suggest the hetero geneity elf the underlying cognitive factors in RP.