Alice In Wonderland Syndrome

Todd’s syndrome, more frequently referred to as Alice in Wonderland syndrome, it is a disorienting neurological condition that primarily targets children, mostly young woman between ages of 2-13. Alice in wonderland syndrome affects human visual perception and involves an array of symptoms that include transient altered perception of the shapes of inanimate and animate objects that appear to be smaller or larger than normal. There can also be an impaired sense of passage of time or the feeling of the surrounding environment. The episodes are predominantly short in duration, often less than an hour, and occur up to several times a day, with unpredictable symptoms. Patients suffering from Alice in Wonderland Syndrome experience distorted time, …show more content…
Most cases of Alice in Wonderland Syndrome are self-terminating and resolve by adulthood. Many patients with migraines see bright spots of lights that dart around in their eyes. These are called an “aura.” Alice in Wonderland Sydrome relates to these phenomena of seeing “auras.” Sudden excessive flow of blood to the brain causes the parts of the brain that process shapes, sizes, textures, and sounds to be affected. Frequently the attacks happen just before going to sleep. This disease is not a mental disorder, but is a physical imbalance in the brain chemistry.
Such episodes are of short duration (generally less than an hour), variable frequency (up to several times per day), and unpredictable.
Several studies have assessed the neurological underpinnings of the visual distortions of acute-stage Alice in Wonderland syndrome while individuals were experiencing frequent periods of visual distortion) but none during actual episodes of visual hallucinations. No frank structural brain abnormalities have been linked to viral-onset Alice in Wonderland syndrome, based on studies using both computed-tomography and magnetic resonance imaging …show more content…
Across three studies, 6 of 13 people with Alice in Wonderland syndrome were found to have abnormal electroencephalogram patterns over parieto-occipital and occipital electrode sites. Other reports failed to find abnormal EEG in individuals with the disorder (in five of five cases). Abnormal visual evoked potentials recorded in response to a reversing black and white checkerboard has been reported in children with Alice in Wonderland syndrome. Blood perfusion of brain tissue using single-photon emission computed tomography has been reported for 9 cases of the syndrome, providing a mixed picture of the disorder. While normal perfusion was reported in one case, the other eight showed a varied pattern of hypoperfusion (abnormally low cerebral blood flow) across distinct neural regions. While there is no direct treatment for Alice in Wonderland syndrome, the good news is that those who suffer from this disease experience the most severe parts of it usually during childhood and eventually grow out of it. They are not crazy. Even though the condition is rare, the medical community now recognizes