Confabulation is a memory disorder that is defined as the spontaneous production of false memories -- either memories or events that never occurred, or of actual events that are displaced in time or space.
Although it may appear that the person is fabricating a story to fill gaps in their memory, it's important to realize that the person is not deliberately trying to mislead or lie. Rather, they are usually unaware that their memories are erroneous.
Although confabulation is often associated with alcohol-related dementia or Korsakoff's syndrome, it is also quite common in Alzheimer's disease.
While the exact causes of confabulation are not known, it may occur whenever there is damage to certain parts of the brain, for instance the basal forebrain.
