What does the brain magnetic resonance imaging scan show and what is the likely diagnosis?
Confabulation, which is classically defined as a falsification of memory in people with organic amnesia who have clear consciousness,6 can explain the way his answer changed in only 10 minutes and his lack of insight into his memory problems. Confabulation was first reported in chronic alcoholism by Korsakoff.7 Berlyne described two types of confabulation: momentary confabulation, which is provoked by interviewer questions and involves elements of real memory that are distorted in time and place; and fantastic confabulation, which develops spontaneously, is not based on memories, and often includes wish fulfilling themes.6 Confabulation is often regarded as pathognomonic of Korsakoff’s syndrome.8 It has also been reported in patients with brain lesions of the dorsomedial thalamic nucleus9 and the posterior orbitofrontal cortex,10 although the underlying anatomical localisation and mechanisms are controversial.11 It is also unclear whether confabulation results from patients deliberatel
