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

Exp Brain Res. 2009 Jan;192(3):533-51. doi: 10.1007/s00221-008-1562-y. Epub 2008 Sep 24.

Abstract

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.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Agnosia / etiology
  • Agnosia / physiopathology
  • Agnosia / psychology*
  • Brain Damage, Chronic / physiopathology
  • Brain Damage, Chronic / psychology*
  • Cerebral Cortex / pathology
  • Cerebral Cortex / physiopathology
  • Cerebral Infarction / complications
  • Cerebral Infarction / physiopathology
  • Cerebral Infarction / psychology
  • Functional Laterality / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Neurocognitive Disorders / etiology
  • Neurocognitive Disorders / physiopathology
  • Neurocognitive Disorders / psychology*
  • Perceptual Disorders / etiology
  • Perceptual Disorders / physiopathology
  • Perceptual Disorders / psychology
  • Perceptual Distortion / physiology
  • Schizophrenia, Paranoid / etiology
  • Schizophrenia, Paranoid / physiopathology
  • Schizophrenia, Paranoid / psychology*