The Neuropsychiatry of Dissociative Identity Disorder: Why many DID Patients Switch Personalities and Forget about the Previous Personality while under the Influence of one Personality?

Abstract

Little has been known about the possible brain changes in the patients suffering from the psychiatric illness called Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). This review suggests that the patients of DID have structural changes in the limbic system–hippocampus and amygdala -and the cortex. Blood flow is also altered in the orbito-frontal cortex. Another interesting finding of this review is that the glutamate release is found to be the cause of the dissociative symptoms. Furthermore, this review also highlights that in some DID patients the dorsolateral prefrontal and parietal cortex are activated. The limbic system especially the amygdala and the dorsolateral prefrontal and parietal cortex are associated with the short term and working memory, while the hippocampus is associated with long-term memory. All of these regions are somehow affected in the DID patient’s brain. Thus, this explains the symptoms of the multiple personality changes and forgetting about the previous personality. However, the future studies will broaden our knowledge about the complete neuropsychiatry of this unique medical illness.