Our perception of the world around us is strongly related to our vision, but sometimes it is very difficult to distinguish between reality and illusions. Illusions skew the brain’s interpretations of visual stimuli in a way that alters our perception of objective reality. When we look at the Ebbinghaus illusion as shown in Figure 1 for instance, two circles of identical size appear to be of different size when one is positioned in the middle of a ring of larger circles and the other is positioned in the middle of a ring of smaller circles.
Figure 1. Ebbinghaus Illusion (Kolomiets, 2015).
One would think that after becoming aware of this occurrence, the equally sized circles in the middle of each ring would allow the brain to interpret it in …show more content…
Visual perceptual distortions of AIWS can manifest in ways that alter the size, distance and position of objects, and even cause an impaired sense of time (Todd, 1955). Although one of the first psychiatrists to explore the symptoms of AIWS documented the experiences of individuals ranging from 24 to 43 years old (Todd, 1955), AIWS tends to be common among 78% of young children who frequently experience migraines (Smith, Wright & Bennett, 2013). Lifetime prevalence of micropsia and macropsia within the general adolescent population tends to be much lower, with rates being 5.6% and 6.2% among males and females respectively (Blom, 2016). Gender differences for episodes of micropsia and macropsia tend to emerge with age, with females experiencing more instances of AIWS than males during late adolescence (Mastria et. al, 2016). Due to the rarity of this neurological condition, relatively few have followed in Todd’s footsteps to further investigate the symptoms, etiologies, and treatment associated with AIWS and, as a result of this, there is a lack of medical acknowledge and awareness
Figure 1. Ebbinghaus Illusion (Kolomiets, 2015).
One would think that after becoming aware of this occurrence, the equally sized circles in the middle of each ring would allow the brain to interpret it in …show more content…
Visual perceptual distortions of AIWS can manifest in ways that alter the size, distance and position of objects, and even cause an impaired sense of time (Todd, 1955). Although one of the first psychiatrists to explore the symptoms of AIWS documented the experiences of individuals ranging from 24 to 43 years old (Todd, 1955), AIWS tends to be common among 78% of young children who frequently experience migraines (Smith, Wright & Bennett, 2013). Lifetime prevalence of micropsia and macropsia within the general adolescent population tends to be much lower, with rates being 5.6% and 6.2% among males and females respectively (Blom, 2016). Gender differences for episodes of micropsia and macropsia tend to emerge with age, with females experiencing more instances of AIWS than males during late adolescence (Mastria et. al, 2016). Due to the rarity of this neurological condition, relatively few have followed in Todd’s footsteps to further investigate the symptoms, etiologies, and treatment associated with AIWS and, as a result of this, there is a lack of medical acknowledge and awareness