The word ‘presbyophrenia’ was coined by Kahlbaum (1863) to name a subtype of the paraphrenias (insanities occurring during periods of biological change). Presbyophrenia was a form of paraphrenia senilis characterized by amnesia, disorientation, delusional misidentification and confabulation.

Ignored for more than 30 years, the term reappeared in the work of Wernicke, Fischer and Kraepelin.…