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“The Mind Is Its Own Place”: Amelioration of Claustrophobia in Semantic Dementia

Clark, CN; Downey, LE; Golden, HL; Fletcher, PD; de Silva, R; Cifelli, A; Warren, JD (2014) “The Mind Is Its Own Place”: Amelioration of Claustrophobia in Semantic Dementia. Behavioural Neurology, 2014. p. 584893. ISSN 0953-4180 https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/584893
SGUL Authors: Clark, Camilla Neegaard

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Abstract

Phobias are among the few intensely fearful experiences we regularly have in our everyday lives, yet the brain basis of phobic responses remains incompletely understood. Here we describe the case of a 71-year-old patient with a typical clinicoanatomical syndrome of semantic dementia led by selective (predominantly right-sided) temporal lobe atrophy, who showed striking amelioration of previously disabling claustrophobia following onset of her cognitive syndrome. We interpret our patient’s newfound fearlessness as an interaction of damaged limbic and autonomic responsivity with loss of the cognitive meaning of previously threatening situations. This case has implications for our understanding of brain network disintegration in semantic dementia and the neurocognitive basis of phobias more generally.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Copyright © 2014 Camilla N. Clark et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: Experimental Psychology, 1109 Neurosciences, 1103 Clinical Sciences, 1702 Cognitive Sciences
SGUL Research Institute / Research Centre: Academic Structure > Molecular and Clinical Sciences Research Institute (MCS)
Journal or Publication Title: Behavioural Neurology
ISSN: 0953-4180
Language: en
Dates:
DateEvent
6 March 2014Published
17 June 2013Accepted
Publisher License: Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0
Projects:
Project IDFunderFunder ID
091673/Z/10/ZWellcome Trusthttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100004440
URI: https://openaccess.sgul.ac.uk/id/eprint/112250
Publisher's version: https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/584893

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