ATD 296-317
Page 307
Charles Bonnet Syndrome
Named after the Swiss philosopher and naturalist, Charles Bonnet (1720-1793), who first described a syndrome in which visually-impaired people see vivid, complex images that aren't real. CBS is thought to result from visual deprivation, and commonly occurs in sufferers of macular degeneration and other impairments of the eyes. Importantly, CBS does not (clinically, cannot) result from any type of psychosis or dementia. Thus, those who experience CBS are otherwise "normal" people.
Remarkably, CBS is characterized often by bizarre and grotesque images: ghosts, elves, sprites, cartoon-like figures, disembodies faces, magical landscapes. According to Cliff Pickover, author of Sex, Drugs, Einstein, and Elves (Smart Publications, 2005), "people affflicted with certain diseases give similar reports of beings from parallel universes."
Royal National Institute of the Blind
--Jmanmiami 09:10, 1 December 2006 (PST)
