Feeling unreal: cognitive processes in depersonalization
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Depersonalization disorder is characterized by a detachment from one's sense of self and one's surroundings that leads to considerable distress and impairment yet an intact testing of reality. Depersonalized individuals often report difficulties in perception, concentration, and memory; however, data on their cognitive profiles are lacking. METHOD: Fifteen patients with depersonalization disorder were compared to 15 matched normal comparison subjects on a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery that assessed cognitive function. RESULTS: The subjects with depersonalization disorder showed a distinct cognitive profile. They performed significantly worse than the comparison subjects on certain measures of attention, short-term visual and verbal memory, and spatial reasoning within the context of comparable intellectual abilities. CONCLUSIONS: The authors propose that depersonalization involves alterations in the attentional and perceptual systems, specifically in the ability to effortfully control the focus of attention. These early encoding deficits are hypothesized to have a deleterious effect on the short-term memory system; they manifest as deficits in the ability to take in new information but not in the ability to conceptualize and manipulate previously encoded information.
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Lower levels of performance on measures of visuospatial functioning and verbal memory predicted DPD status.
“lower levels of performance on measures of visuospatial functioning and verbal memory predicted DPD status (Guralnik et al., 2000).”
From A review of the relation between dissociation, memory, executive functioning and social cognition in military members and civilians with neuropsychiatric conditions (2016) · cites this paper as Guralnik et al., 2000
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Feeling Unreal: A PET Study of Depersonalization Disorder
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- Authors
- Guralnik, O., Schmeidler, J., & Simeon, D.
- Affiliations
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
- ORCID
- Schmeidler, James
- Venue
- American Journal of Psychiatry
- Published
- 2000-01-01
- Volume
- 157
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 103-109
- ISSN
- 0002-953X (ISSN-L)
- 1535-7228
- OpenAlex
- W2011303369
- Cited by
- 141
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 3.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH-55582, R29MH055582)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
- Keywords
- depersonalization disorder, cognitive profile, attention, short-term memory, visual memory, verbal memory, spatial reasoning, perceptual disorders, self-awareness, neuropsychological assessment
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Attention, Cognition Disorders, Depersonalization, Female, Humans, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Neuropsychological Tests, Regression Analysis, Self Concept, Verbal Behavior, Visual Perception, Wechsler Scales
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