More information has been emerging about a rare and largely unexplained neurological condition that causes people to see faces as distorted. Some refer to the condition as part of “Alice in Wonderland syndrome,” a collection of neurological symptoms that can be provoked by migraines, epilepsy, viral infections, or tumors, and which mangle a person’s perception of their own body and the world around them. While evidence of the condition dates back at least 70 years, only recently have several clinicians dedicated themselves to studying the condition. Scientists now posit that understanding PMO could deepen our understanding of facial recognition—and, given that PMO patients can recognize faces even as those faces appear inaccurately to them—provides evidence that facial perception and recognition may be separate processes within the human brain.
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