Mirrored-Self Misidentification in a Patient With Probable Alzheimer Dementia

A 77-year-old retired primary school teacher with probable Alzheimer dementia diagnosed after 2 years of progressive short-term memory loss and predominant hippocampal atrophy on magnetic resonance imaging of the brain became frequently puzzled and astonished by his reflection in the mirror, as shown in this video. He was able to recognize his wife in the same reflection.

Mirrored-self misidentification is associated with failure of face-selective activity in the right occipitotemporal cortex, probably causing impaired mapping of the perceived face on stored memory representations.

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