Abstract
We report a case of a delusional patient who had killed two of her children in an attempted 'extended suicide'. She was convinced of a genetic defect that caused autobiographical memory and emotional deficits and made life 'senseless'. Neuropsychological tests revealed dysfunctions in remembering emotional details of personal episodes and theory of mind. Water positron emission tomography (15O) with a paradigm used in a former study by Fink et al. (1996) with healthy controls elicited abnormal activations during autobiographical memory retrieval characterised by a lack of prefrontal and limbic activity. We conclude that these imaging findings reflect neural correlates of the self-reported and objectified autobiographical dysfunctions. Furthermore, they indicate that beliefs or prejudices may have a major impact on the brain's processing of the personal past.
Publication types
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Case Reports
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Adult
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Affective Symptoms / diagnostic imaging
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Affective Symptoms / metabolism
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Affective Symptoms / physiopathology
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Brain / diagnostic imaging*
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Brain / metabolism
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Brain / physiopathology
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Brain Mapping / methods
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Child, Preschool
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Criminal Psychology / methods
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Domestic Violence / psychology*
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Empathy
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Female
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Homicide / psychology*
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Humans
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Insanity Defense*
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Limbic System / diagnostic imaging
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Limbic System / metabolism
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Limbic System / physiopathology
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Memory / physiology
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Memory Disorders / diagnostic imaging
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Memory Disorders / metabolism
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Memory Disorders / physiopathology
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Models, Neurological
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Positron-Emission Tomography / methods
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Prefrontal Cortex / diagnostic imaging
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Prefrontal Cortex / metabolism
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Prefrontal Cortex / physiopathology
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Schizophrenia, Paranoid / diagnostic imaging*
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Schizophrenia, Paranoid / metabolism
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Schizophrenia, Paranoid / physiopathology
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Social Behavior Disorders / diagnostic imaging*
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Social Behavior Disorders / metabolism
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Social Behavior Disorders / physiopathology