I’m happy to announce that I’ve just finalised an agreement with Penguin to write a book on what hallucinations tell us about the mind, brain and human nature. From the proposal: The mind and brain can generate fantastical visions and disembodied voices, illusory people and shifting landscapes, internal symphonies and sensed presences. These states happen [...]
13 Vote(s)
September 21, 2010
The book of reality distortions
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August 19, 2010
Flowers, falling maple leaves and wriggling dwarves
I love this summary of a study on unusual hallucinations in an elderly Japanese lady. The full article is in Japanese but the translation of the abstract and the form of her hallucinations gives it a stylised quality that reminds me of the traditional art from the country. The last sentence is wonderfully zen-like. [Formed [...]
11 Vote(s)
11 Vote(s)
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August 16, 2010
…Take one hit of LSD in the morning, then again 4 hours later. If pain or hallucinations persist…
As I’m getting on in my study I’ve found that people (outside of uni) treat me as something of an expert on all things ‘brain’. I don’t push this image because, frankly, I’m not an expert in anything. Though most of the time I can find some element of their question I can answer, however [...]... Jankelowitz, S., & Zagami, A. (2001) Cold-stimulus headac
16 Vote(s)
16 Vote(s)
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May 25, 2010
Hallucinating the void
Rhode Island Medical News recently published an April fools article where the author joked about negative hallucinations, where someone didn't see things that were really there, seemingly unaware that such hallucinations are in fact possible.The article, which you can read online as a pdf, has various humorous references to jumping traffics lights or ignoring family members. But when I'm talking
9 Vote(s)
9 Vote(s)
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March 2, 2010
Long-Time Cannabis Use Associated With Psychosis
Young adults who have used cannabis or marijuana for a longer period of time appear more likely to have hallucinations or delusions or to meet criteria for psychosis, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the May print issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals...
5 Vote(s)
5 Vote(s)
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February 13, 2010
Dope, Dope, Dopamine
When you smoke pot, you get stoned.Simple. But it's not really, because stoned can involve many different effects, depending upon the user's mental state, the situation, the variety and strength of the marijuana, and so forth. It can be pleasurable, or unpleasant. It can lead to relaxed contentment, or anxiety and panic. And it can feature hallucinations and alterations of thinking, some of which
20 Vote(s)
20 Vote(s)
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October 29, 2009
An illusory interlude
I just found a some curious case reports on two people who had hallucinations in everyday life owing to unrecognised narcolepsy, but not realising it, they assumed their hallucinated episodes had genuinely occurred.Unlike in psychosis, where affected people often believe that their hallucinations are real, people who have narcolepsy and have hallucinations are usually able to realise they were tr
15 Vote(s)
15 Vote(s)
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October 28, 2009
TAU Seeks Genetic “Prozac Markers” To Find A Simple Test For Treating Depression
Prozac works wonders for some depressed people, but not for others. In some cases, patients derive little benefit and at worst, it can lead to bizarre hallucinations and fits of rage. Researchers and doctors remain puzzled as to what causes the wide range of reaction to Prozac and similar antidepressants. The answer, Tel Aviv University researchers believe, can be found in a patient's genes.
5 Vote(s)
5 Vote(s)
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September 19, 2009
Oliver Sacks on the varieties of hallucinatory experience
Oliver Sacks has done a wonderful TED talk on hallucinations that has just been released online. He particularly focuses on the hallucinations of Charles Bonnet syndrome where damage or decay of the retina can cause strikingly complex hallucinations of people and animals that seems to be a natural part of the visual scene.Interestingly, the people affected by the condition are usually well aware
17 Vote(s)
17 Vote(s)
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September 4, 2009
Hallucinating sanity in the middle ages
I'm just reading a thought-provoking book called Hallucinations and Their Impact on Art. Unfortunately, it's a little dry so isn't the most gripping of reads but it has this fascinating bit about how hallucinations weren't considered to be part of madness in the middle ages.While it is widely accepted in modern times that you can 'hear voices' without being mentally ill, the experience of halluci
17 Vote(s)
17 Vote(s)
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