A fourth type of misidentification is intermetamorphosis, the belief that other people have changed physically and psychologically into someone else. In addition, there is reverse intermetamorphosis, which is the belief that the patient has changed physically and psychologically into another person. The majority of the misidentification syndromes were initially reported as psychiatric cases and largely explained in terms of psychodynamic theories. More recently many of the reported cases have undergone brain imaging, with a significant proportion of patients having been found to have some brain lesion. The possibility of an organic component in the misidentification syndromes has prompted a body of research looking at the cognitive function of patients with misidentification syndromes.
Normal people have a higher skin conductance response when looking at familiar faces.
Another factor that has been proposed to be crucial in the development of a misidentification syndrome is paranoia. A reduplicative phenomenon. Reduced autonomic responses to faces in Capgras delusion. Face-Processing Impairments and the Capgras Delusion.