Visual hallucinations constitute one of the most unique manifestations of various clinical situations, whether in the field of mental illnesses, physical alterations or drug use. However, detailed analysis of their experience in relation to the causes that may produce them is rare.
Consider the representation of visual hallucinations in the publications of the neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks, with special attention to his work Hallucinations.
Hallucinations have attracted the attention of culture, religion and art, leading to multiple interpretations. Sacks’s interest in the perception of sensations led him to investigate the mechanisms by which hallucinations occur, due to the little knowledge that was available on the subject. Hallucinations already appeared in works such as Migraine, Awakenings or A leg to stand on. In Musicophilia he addressed auditory hallucinations, and in Hallucinations considered them monographically. In this last work, Sacks especially analyzed those present in Charles Bonnet syndrome, in situations of sensory deprivation and in patients with epilepsy, those precipitated by levodopa and those caused by drugs of abuse.
Hallucinations It is one of Oliver Sacks’ works with the greatest neuro-ophthalmological content. The description of his patients’ hallucinations or those experienced in his own skin and the reflection on the world of perception make Hallucinations one of Sacks’s most fascinating works.
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Authors: Júlia Casas, Josep E. Baños, Elena Guardiola
Fountain: