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research article

Somatoparaphrenia: a body delusion. A review of the neuropsychological literature

Vallar, Giuseppe
•
Ronchi, Roberta  
2008
Experimental brain research. Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Expérimentation cérébrale

A review of published brain-damaged patients showing delusional beliefs concerning the contralesional side of the body (somatoparaphrenia) is presented. Somatoparaphrenia has been reported, with a few exceptions, in right-brain-damaged patients, with motor and somatosensory deficits, and the syndrome of unilateral spatial neglect. Somatoparaphrenia, most often characterized by a delusion of disownership of left-sided body parts, may however occur without associated anosognosia for motor deficits, and personal neglect. Also somatosensory deficits may not be a core pathological mechanism of somatoparaphrenia, and visual field disorders may be absent. Deficits of proprioception, however, may play a relevant role. Somatoparaphrenia is often brought about by extensive right-sided lesions, but patients with posterior (parietal-temporal), and insular damage are on record, as well as a few patients with subcortical lesions. Possible pathological factors include a deranged representation of the body concerned with ownership, mainly right-hemisphere-based, and deficits of multisensory integration. Finally, the rubber hand illusion, that brings about a bodily misattribution in neurologically unimpaired participants, as somatoparaphrenia does in brain-damaged patients, is briefly discussed.

  • Details
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Type
research article
DOI
10.1007/s00221-008-1562-y
Author(s)
Vallar, Giuseppe
Ronchi, Roberta  
Date Issued

2008

Published in
Experimental brain research. Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Expérimentation cérébrale
Volume

192

Issue

3

Start page

533

End page

51

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

OTHER

EPFL units
BMI  
Available on Infoscience
January 21, 2013
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/88018
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