Confabulation
In psychology,
confabulation is a memory disturbance, defined as the production of fabricated, distorted or misinterpreted memories about oneself or the world, without the conscious intention to deceive. Confabulation is distinguished from lying as there is no intent to deceive and the person is unaware the information is false. Although individuals can present blatantly false information, confabulation can also seem to be coherent, internally consistent, and relatively normal. Individuals who confabulate present incorrect memories ranging from "subtle alternations to bizarre fabrications", and are generally very confident about their recollections, despite contradictory evidence. Most known cases of confabulation are symptomatic of brain damage or dementias, such as aneurysm, Alzheimer's disease, or Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome. Two types of confabulation are often distinguished:
Provoked confabulations represent a normal response to a faulty memory, are common in both amnesia and dementia, and can become apparent during memory tests.
Spontaneous confabulations do not occur in response to a cue and seem to be involuntary.