Aphantasia presenting as Cotard’s syndrome

Aphantasia is defined as the absence or marked reduction of conscious, wakeful imagery. Most of the people with aphantasia live normal lives with intact attention, memory, and intelligence. We are presenting a case of acquired aphantasia presenting as Cotard’s syndrome. A 55-year-old woman presented with a long-standing complaint that she had lost her mind. Formal testing showed absence of visual and sensory imagery and poor theory of mind skills. MRI brain showed subcortical and deep cerebral white matter lesions in the bilateral frontal and parietal lobes. This patient raises the question of how a person subjectively knows that he or she has a mind. And how the clinician can understand whether a person is having a subjective experience of mind-the philosophical problem of other minds.

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Publication Details

Journal
Discover Neuroscience
Published
2026-02-15
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13064-026-00237-w
Primary Topic
Face Recognition and Perception
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Aphantasia presenting as Cotard’s syndrome

Rajith Ravindren, Prasad Thotton Veedu, Ratheesh S R
Discover Neuroscience
Face Recognition and Perception
article

Aphantasia presenting as Cotard’s syndrome

Rajith Ravindren, Prasad Thotton Veedu, Ratheesh S R
article en

Abstract

Aphantasia is defined as the absence or marked reduction of conscious, wakeful imagery. Most of the people with aphantasia live normal lives with intact attention, memory, and intelligence. We are presenting a case of acquired aphantasia presenting as Cotard’s syndrome. A 55-year-old woman presented with a long-standing complaint that she had lost her mind. Formal testing showed absence of visual and sensory imagery and poor theory of mind skills. MRI brain showed subcortical and deep cerebral white matter lesions in the bilateral frontal and parietal lobes. This patient raises the question of how a person subjectively knows that he or she has a mind. And how the clinician can understand whether a person is having a subjective experience of mind-the philosophical problem of other minds.

Discover NeuroscienceVol. 21(1)
Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences (IN), Kannur University (IN)
No poverty
Openalex Percentile: Top 56%
Face Recognition and Perception
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