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Capgras syndrome

Capgras syndrome

1 9.9
A condition in which a person thinks a close family member has been replaced by an identical impostor
  • noun
  • /ˈkæpɡrɑːs ˈsɪnˌdroʊm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : síndrome de Capgras
  • What caused Capgras syndrome to switch from psychiatry to neurology?

D at Bellicosavand says one thing that does bug me is this thing called Capgras syndrome.

Examples

  • It's Capgras syndrome.

  • One of them is that there were incidental reports on cases of acute Capgras syndrome, for instance, after a car accident or other causes of brain trauma.

    Academic text (2009)
  • In the 1980s, however, Capgras syndrome came to be seen as caused by a neurological deficit, severing the connection between visual and emotional recognition of familiar faces.

    Academic text (2009)
  • Capgras syndrome is a delusion in which subjects come to believe that other persons (usually family) and sometimes familiar places and objects have been replaced by replicas or doubles (Capgras 1923).

    Academic text (1999)
  • A person with Capgras syndrome may insist that their spouse is an impostor pretending to be the real partner.

  • Individuals diagnosed with Capgras syndrome often feel that their loved ones have been replaced by strangers.

  • In Capgras syndrome, patients frequently experience distress, believing that close family members are not who they seem.

Surface Forms

Morphology

Capgras + syndrome

This is an eponymic medical term: 'Capgras' is a proper name with no inherent lexical meaning for learners, and 'syndrome' only signals a set of symptoms or disorder. Knowing the constituent words does not let a B1 learner infer the specific delusional belief (that a close person has been replaced by an impostor), so the meaning must be learned as a lexicalized term.

Etymology

Capgras syndrome is named after the French doctor Joseph Capgras, who described patients who were sure a close person had been replaced by an identical impostor. That strong image of a loved one being 'replaced by an impostor' explains why the name refers to this belief.