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Remember the bizarre metamorphoses that the heroine of Lewis Carroll’s fairy tale observes and experiences? There is a possibility that they are based on the feelings of the writer himself, who suffered from migraine attacks. Or from a disease that was named after his famous novel. Let’s figure out what “Alice’s syndrome” is.
“The far wall of my bedroom began to recede and eventually became a small white rectangle floating somewhere in the distance.” This is not a description of the action of the drug, but the sensations experienced by those who have been diagnosed with “Alice in Wonderland syndrome.”
Visual illusions, auditory hallucinations, altered perception of speed or even one’s appearance are the main signs of a neurological disorder commonly referred to in medicine as micropsia. These symptoms are accompanied by a confused perception of reality – which can manifest itself in the most unexpected ways.
Surprisingly, a person with this syndrome is otherwise absolutely healthy – he has no abnormalities in the structure of the brain, there are no visual and hearing impairments.
How exactly does the syndrome manifest itself?
Attacks of hallucinations occur irregularly: “flashes” from a few seconds to a quarter of an hour. They often follow each other for a few weeks or a month, and then suddenly retreat, only to reappear a few months later.
The very mechanism that triggers the syndrome is not yet fully understood. Instead, the researchers found that brain chemistry during attacks is similar to those that occur during migraines – they also affect the parietal lobe, which controls vision. Therefore, certain medications that prevent migraines can stop an attack.
What causes hallucinations?
During an attack, simultaneously with the onset of headaches, a sharp spasm of cerebral vessels occurs. Access of blood to some parts of the brain is difficult. This leads to many hallucinations. If the right parietal lobe is affected, the person suffers from changes in the perception of the image of his body. That’s why this syndrome can occur in people with epilepsy, whose attacks usually affect the posterior parietal part of the brain.
What does a person feel during seizures?
Usually hallucinations appear in two forms – micropsia and macropsia. In the first case, all surrounding objects and parts of the body seem smaller to a person than they should actually be. In the second case, the picture is reversed – the objects seem too large: the eye is felt larger than the eye socket, and the door handle looks so huge that it seems impossible to clasp it with your hand.
There are also more intricate manifestations: patients report that the floor under their feet becomes viscous, the fingers disappear, the door in the room is suddenly separated from them by a long corridor. These illusions affect not only sight, but also all the senses.
During attacks, a person loses orientation in space and sometimes cannot move without outside help, although he retains a clear mind and understands that his sensations are unreal.
Who is affected by the syndrome?
This condition is rare and usually affects children as young as five years of age. But it can also occur in adulthood. In general, a tendency to migraine poses a risk for Alice’s syndrome, although sometimes other diseases can be the cause of the disorder – for example, mononucleosis, epilepsy, or a tumor that disrupts the normal functioning of the brain. Moreover, out of a thousand patients who complain of migraines, only four are carriers of the syndrome.
Why was the syndrome named after Alice?
Lewis Carroll suffered from migraines with similar symptoms – as he wrote in his diary. Therefore, psychiatrist John Todd, who gave the name to the syndrome, suggested that the writer used his feelings from seizures as an inspiration for writing a novel.