2006 Volume 43 Issue 6 Pages 365-370
There have been a number of recent reports in the English literature regarding false recognition of unknown faces, although it has attracted little attention in Japan. The false recognition of unknown faces may have severe negative consequences in daily life, and this condition should be investigated in more detail. Here, we report a patient who showed false recognition and misidentification of unknown faces. The patient, a 37-year-old right-handed woman, had suffered right cerebral infarction due to Takayasu arteritis at the age of 16. The patient showed mild unilateral spatial neglect and mild impairment of recognition of familiar faces, but showed no signs of anosognosia or anosodiaphoria for false recognition. Neuropsychological investigations suggested that her symptoms may be due to a delayed information processing speed regarding faces. The patient's impairment has been ameliorated by continuous instruction urging her to think carefully before coming to a conclusion regarding the identities of faces. We also present a review of the literature regarding false recognition of unknown faces.
