Capgras syndrome - out of sight, out of mind?

Objective:  Recent theoretical approaches emphasize a disorder of face processing in the pathogenesis of the Capgras syndrome. We report a patient with the Capgras syndrome developing in the physical absence of the person who is believed to be replaced and thus a limited role for a disorder of face processing. Method:  The clinical phenomenology of a case of the Capgras syndrome is explored. Results:  A disorder of face processing might not be a sufficient explanation of the course of the disorder in this patient. Conclusion:  Face processing accounts, of the Capgras delusion, have to be supplemented by additional assumptions.