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Assessments and clinical understanding of late-onset delusions in the elderly are inconsistent and often incomplete. In this review, we consider the prevalence, neurobehavioral features, and neuroanatomic correlations of delusions in elderly persons - those with documented cognitive decline and those with no evidence of cognitive decline. Both groups exhibit a common phenotype: delusions are ei...

Thomas Szasz argued that mental illnesses are (often deceptive) social strategies. Using concepts from evolutionary biology, I investigate whether non-bizarre delusions might be a form of strategic deception. Non-bizarre delusions comprise a small number of themes, including grandiose, paranoid, and somatic. If, hypothetically, delusions were believed by friends and family members, delusional i...

Numerous delusions have been studied which are highly specific and which can present in isolation in people whose beliefs are otherwise entirely unremarkable - "monothematic delusions" such as Capgras or Cotard delusions. We review such delusions and summarize our 2-factor theory of delusional belief which seeks to explain what causes these delusional beliefs to arise initially and what prevent...

BACKGROUND The pathology of delusions in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) associated with white matter (WM) abnormalities is poorly understood. In addition, whether the abnormalities in WM integrity that underlie the delusions develop before the onset of the delusions remains unclear. In this study, we used a diffusion tensor imaging approach to examine the existence of baseline abnormali...

Kengo Miyazono, in his work Delusions and Beliefs, defends a teleo-functional account of delusions. In my contribution to this symposium, I question one Miyazono’s motivations for appealing teleo-functionalism over its main rival, dry-functionalism. Miyazono suggests that teleo-functionalism, unlike dry-functionalism, can the compatibility theses (i) delusions are genuine doxastic states (doxas...

Kengo Miyazono’s (2019) Delusions and Beliefs: A Philosophical Inquiry is an attempt to provide a unified account of the nature, pathology, etiology delusions. The strength his book resides in clarity arguments its consistent adoption biological explanation delusions, based on teleo-functionalism about mental states. However, there are some weaknesses each regarding Regarding nature makes it di...

Central to psychotic disorders, delusions are associated with disability and often respond inadequately to pharmacotherapy. Cognitive-behavioral treatments have been developed over the last 20 years that successfully address delusions. However, meta-analyses suggest only a modest improvement in psychotic symptoms. Because delusions share considerable overlap with anxiety, adapting principles an...

Eighteen percent of Major Depressive cases attending a general hospital had delusions. There were 10 types of delusions and delusions of persecution occurred most frequently (67.5%), with persecution involving either the patients themselves or people close to them occurring in 50% each. The majority of patients considered the persecution to be unjustified and reacted by taking precautions, plea...

Editorial abstract In this overview, Author presents the development of his approach—the twofactor account of delusions—drawing attention to the neuropsychological research on delusions (the role of brain damage in the formation of delusions), as well as to the differences between explaining monothematic and polythematic delusions (this differentiation is not analyzed in detail in the present v...