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Alice in Wonderland Syndrome: Why is this mysterious phenomenon so surprising?
In the fantasy story, Alice experienced many surreal adventures. But in real life, there is a neurological disorder called "Alice in Wonderland Syndrome" (AIWS), which causes some humans to experience wonderful feelings similar to Alice's. This disorder is not just a legal fantasy, but a real phenomenon that affects individual perception.
Alice in Wonderland syndrome distorts people's visual perception, making things appear smaller or larger, or distances feel closer or further away.
Symptoms and types
Alice in Wonderland syndrome has more than 60 symptoms, mainly affecting the senses, including vision, touch, hearing, etc. In addition, patients may also experience migraines, nausea, dizziness, and anxiety. Such symptoms make us have to explore what is the root cause of this phenomenon.
Factors causing AIWS
The cause of Alice in Wonderland Syndrome remains unclear, and most common explanations involve changes in neurophysiology. Many cases have been reported to be related to migraines, head trauma or viral encephalitis caused by the Epstein-Barr virus.
Is AIWS caused by abnormal electrical activity in the area of the brain that processes vision, resulting in abnormal blood flow?
Brain imaging techniques suggest that AIWS may involve reduced brain perfusion in multiple cortical areas. Some studies even show that during a migraine attack, the visual pathway may experience transient picture ischemia, further affecting normal perceptual functions.
Changes in emotion and time perception
In addition to visual distortions, patients often feel disconnected from their bodies or surroundings. This emotional distance is called depersonalization or derealization.
In each hallucination episode, the patient is still aware of the changes in his senses, but still cannot fully control this mysterious feeling.
For many people involved, the sense of the passage of time may also be distorted. Sometimes the feeling of time passing may feel long and abstract due to changes in other senses.
Timing and diagnosis
Because Alice in Wonderland Syndrome lacks consistent diagnostic criteria, it is often misdiagnosed. We need to conduct a detailed examination based on the patient's medical records to confirm whether there are other causes. Young patients, in particular, may have difficulty expressing their feelings accurately, and encouraging them to participate in drawings or depicting their experiences may help doctors understand the true nature of their symptoms.
The process of diagnosing this syndrome often requires excluding the possibility of other mental illnesses, which also makes the diagnosis of AIWS more complicated.
Because of the variability and individual differences of AIWS, many patients seeking diagnosis may feel anxious and confused while waiting for the results.
Prospects and treatments
Currently, treatments for Alice in Wonderland Syndrome are still in the exploratory stage. Most patients experience a decrease in symptoms over time, and occasionally new visual disturbances or migraines develop. In recent years, some cases have pointed out that the use of rotating chair pain therapy (rTMS) has a certain effect on symptom relief. However, further research is needed to determine the effectiveness of this treatment.
Alice in Wonderland syndrome may hold the key to the relationship between the nervous system and perception. So, might the deep meaning hidden behind fantasy stories have some indescribable connection with reality?
