Abstract

An overview of the symptoms and typical disorders associated with Alice in Wonderland syndrome

Author(s): Francois Montastruc, Noah Schwarz, Laurent Schmitt, Eric Bui

The Alice in Wonderland syndrome refers to a set of symptoms characterized by perceptual distortions, such as visual distortions (i.e., metamorphopsia), body image and time distortions. The Alice in Wonderland syndrome has been described consistently over the past five decades in various cultural settings. Migraine headaches and epilepsy were the etiologies first described and most frequently reported in the literature; however, infectious, neurological, toxic and psychiatric causes have also been reported. Although little is known regarding the specific pathophysiological pathways, dysfunctions of the NMDA neurotransmission and inflammations, as well as edemas of cerebral regions close to the visual pathways may be implicated.