Alive but dead: Case of a man who thought his brain had died

Medical Mysteries and Marvels: A 48-year-old man who can walk, talk and breathe air thinks he's dead. The patient suffers from Cotard's syndrome, also known as'walking corpse syndrome,' a rare psychiatric condition that involves a person denying the existence of his own body or body parts. When a doctor hears his patient say he thinks his brain is dead, he knows something is seriously wrong. That's what happened when 48-year-old Graham went to see his general practitioner to prove his brain was "dead," according to a 2013 case study in the journal CORTEX. According to the case study, Graham knew he had the ability to think, recall and interact with people.