reduplicative paramnesia

Reduplicative paramnesia is a memory disorder where individuals mistakenly believe a place or person they are encountering is identical to one they have experienced before. This can manifest as thinking they are in a familiar hospital, even if it's a new location, or that a new person is someone they've met previously.1

This condition is typically observed in people experiencing acute confusion or severe amnesia. It is often associated with other cognitive issues such as confabulation (producing false memories), speech disorders, disorientation, and denial of illness. The underlying cause appears to be a loss of familiarity and an inability to recognize a single object or place as the same entity when encountered multiple times.1