Disorder That Makes Faces Look Strange: Prosopometamorphopsia

People with this rare condition called prosopometamorphopsia; objects, people or their own bodies distortion of size and shape perceptions stricken. The number of people suffering from this disorder, which surprises many scientists, has been reported as 75 so far, but it is possible that there are many more.

People with the disorder what he experienced, how he saw it, why such a thing occurred and whether there was a cure. Let’s explain.

As if the disorder is strange not enough, the name “prosopometamorphopsia” may also sound strange. Let’s explain right away.

“Prosopo” comes from the Greek word “prosopon” meaning “face”, while “metamorphosia” refers to perceptual disorders. expresses.

A person with prosopometamorphopsia; When you look at someone else’s face his facial features suddenly change, his eyes move closer and further apart, his jaw line gradually widens, swelling appears, his skin moves and shines. can see. Of course, he can experience the same situation when looking at his own face in the mirror.

One person with the disorder describes his experience: “I almost always experience this when I look at my own face in the mirror, which makes it really difficult to prepare because I look weird I am thinking.”

So what causes something like this?

A definitive cause of the disorder has still not been found, but there are several potential theories. As you can imagine, it can occur with LSD and similar hallucinogens, but it can also occur with stroke, paralysis, damage to one of the parts of the brain, or abnormalities in some parts of the brain It can also be seen from the face. For example, “superior temporal sulcus”; It is activated when processing facial expressions, especially expressions related to the eyes, and damage to this area can lead to prosopometamorphopsia.

In some cases, prosopometamorphopsia may be seen as a symptom of epilepsy. For example, in one study, a patient with drug-resistant epilepsy was asked by the experimenter to your face starts to sag he said.

Is there any treatment for prosopometamorphopsia, which is considered in the category of “facial hallucination”?

Yes, some antidepressants can actually relieve or reduce symptoms. However, other side effects may occur. For example A woman who sees dragon-like faces, Although his visual hallucinations eased when he started using medication, he later began to develop auditory hallucinations. Both were eventually resolved by being prescribed another antidepressant.

Until now Because very few cases have been recorded There is not enough information about the disorder, but neuroscientists continue to work to obtain more data on this subject.

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