RESUMO
Delusions of thought insertion involve subjects claiming that external agents of different nature had placed thoughts into their minds/heads. However, despite being regarded as one of the most severe and complex symptoms of psychotic disorders, a number of disagreements surround the description of its most fundamental phenomenology. This work has reviewed classic and current research on thought insertion in order to examine and clarify its main experiential features as reported by patients from a first-person perspective. The review shows that such features can be grouped into two categories: (i) experiential changes characterizing the period preceding the adoption of the delusion and, (ii) subjective features of full-blown delusional cases. While the discussion of the latter set of experiential features has received some attention within literature, the examination of the former set has been largely neglected. After this, the review offers a discussion of the most important conceptual disagreements surrounding the phenomenological descriptions of the symptom. Overcoming disagreements regarding the experiential structure of thought insertion is fundamental to elaborate phenomenologically and empirically coherent explanatory theories of the symptom and advance its clinical treatment.
Assuntos
Delusões/fisiopatologia , Transtornos Psicóticos/fisiopatologia , Pensamento/fisiologia , HumanosRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Delusion is one of the most intriguing psychopathological phenomena and its conceptualization remains the subject of genuine debate. Claims that it is ill-defined, however, are typically grounded on essentialist expectations that a given definition should capture the core of every instance acknowledged as delusion in the clinical setting. OBJECTIVE: In this paper, we attempt to show the major limitations of the definition of delusion from a non-essentialist point of view. METHOD: The problem is analyzed within the framework of constructs and their translation into definitions. Different linguistic and epistemological perspectives that do concur when one deals with psychopathological phenomena are also considered. RESULTS: The 'construct of delusion', rather than its clinical instances, is the reference in which its definition appears inept. Here we claim that the broad contextual and pragmatic bases that underpin the construct of delusion tend to be either overlooked or downplayed in the quest for a satisfactory definition of this phenomenon.
Assuntos
Delusões/diagnóstico , Delusões/fisiopatologia , HumanosRESUMO
Objetivos: Partindo das definiçoes das Síndromes Delirantes de Falso Reconhecimento, tendo como principais modelos as Síndromes de Capgras e Frégoli, os autores fizeram uma revisao dos aspectos psicopatológicos envolvidos nesses quadros. Métodos: Foi realizado um levantamento da Literatura fenomenológica clássica e posterior adaptaçao de um modelo neuropsicológico que aprofunde o entendimento desses quadros, geralmente negligenciados pela literatura ou tratados como extravagências de psicopatólogos antigos. Conclusoes: O entendimento das Síndromes Delirantes de Falso Reconhecimento, no entender dos autores, pode ser de grande valia para formar novos conceitos no estudo dos quadros psiquiátricos delirante-alucinatórios maiores, principalmente das correlaçoes entre Sensaçao, Percepçao e Atribuiçao de Significado.
Assuntos
Humanos , Masculino , Feminino , Delírio , Delusões , Síndrome de Capgras , Delusões/fisiopatologia , Delusões/psicologia , PercepçãoRESUMO
We longitudinally evaluated the neuropsychological functions, rate of progression, and waking EEG findings in 17 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) with delusions and hallucinations, and compared them with those of matched AD patients without delusions and hallucinations. AD patients with delusions and hallucinations had a more rapid rate of decline, as measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination, a specific defect in receptive language, and a greater frequency of aggression and hostility. Visual EEG analysis showed that these patients had a significantly greater proportion of moderately abnormal EEGs, and spectral analysis confirmed the increased amount of delta and theta activity. These data demonstrate that AD patients with delusions and hallucinations have a greater degree of cerebral dysfunction and a relatively focal neuropsychological defect, which may indicate a localized pathologic abnormality.
Assuntos
Doença de Alzheimer/complicações , Delusões/complicações , Alucinações/complicações , Idoso , Doença de Alzheimer/tratamento farmacológico , Doença de Alzheimer/fisiopatologia , Doença de Alzheimer/psicologia , Análise de Variância , Comportamento/fisiologia , Delusões/tratamento farmacológico , Delusões/fisiopatologia , Depressão/fisiopatologia , Depressão/psicologia , Eletroencefalografia , Feminino , Alucinações/tratamento farmacológico , Alucinações/fisiopatologia , Humanos , Estudos Longitudinais , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Testes Neuropsicológicos , Escalas de Graduação Psiquiátrica , Psicotrópicos/uso terapêuticoRESUMO
Psychobiological research has been used to validate subtypes of affective disorder. Nosologic separation of delusional from nondelusional depression has recently been aided by sophisticated analyses of sleep electrophysiology. In the present study, the sleep of elderly delusional and nondelusional depressed patients could be successfully distinguished from that of aged controls using standard sleep parameters. However, only a combination of manual and spectral analytic techniques separated the depressive subtypes. These results are preliminary and need replication in a larger sample.
Assuntos
Delusões/fisiopatologia , Transtorno Depressivo/fisiopatologia , Eletroencefalografia , Fases do Sono/fisiologia , Nível de Alerta/fisiologia , Córtex Cerebral/fisiopatologia , Ritmo Delta , Eletroencefalografia/instrumentação , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Tempo de Reação/fisiologia , Processamento de Sinais Assistido por Computador , Sono REM/fisiologiaRESUMO
In koro, the sensation of penile retraction is coupled with an intense fear that death will occur once the retraction is complete. Koro has been reported mainly in Southeast Asia, and it occurs in both epidemic and sporadic forms. Two cases, the first each in natives of Haiti and Ethiopia, are presented. Similarities between them and computed tomography and brain electrical activity mapping data are used to support the concept that sporadic koro may be a form of right temporoparietal or bitemporoparietal dysfunction similar to sexual epilepsy. The hypothesis is advanced that epidemic koro occurs in permissive cultures when groups of individuals imitate sporadic koro.