Synonyms
Bonnet syndrome
Short Description or Definition
Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS) is a condition in which visually impaired individuals experience complex visual hallucinations. It is characterized by the following features (Eperjesi and Akbarali 2004):
- 1.
The presence of well-formed, complex, repetitive, or persistent visual hallucinations
- 2.
Full or partial retention of insight into the unreal nature of the hallucinations
- 3.
The absence of hallucinations in other sensory modalities (e.g., auditory, olfactory)
- 4.
The absence of delusions
Categorization
The images associated with CBS are often rich in detail, and their clarity frequently contrasts sharply with sufferers’ blurred perception of real objects (Menon et al. 2003). They are sometimes referred to as “pseudohallucinations” to indicate that the person experiencing them is aware that the images are not real. Hallucinations may vary greatly in terms of color, clarity, movement, and bizarreness (Plummer et al. 2007)....
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References and Readings
Eperjesi, F., & Akbarali, N. (2004). Rehabilitation in Charles Bonnet syndrome: A review of treatment options. Clinical and Experimental Optometry, 87(3), 149–152.
Ffytche, D. H., & Howard, R. J. (1999). The perceptual consequences of visual loss: ‘Positive’ pathologies of vision. Brain, 122(Pt 7), 1247–1260.
Hedges, T. R. (2007). Charles Bonnet, his life, and his syndrome. Survey of Ophthalmology, 52(1), 111–114.
Lapid, M. I., Burton, M. C., Chang, M. T., Rummans, T. A., Cha, S. S., Leavitt, J. A., & Boeve, B. F. (2013). Clinical phenomenology and mortality in Charles Bonnet syndrome. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, 26(1), 3–9.
Menon, G. J., Rahman, I., Menon, S. J., & Dutton, G. N. (2003). Complex visual hallucinations in the visually impaired: The Charles Bonnet Syndrome. Survey of Ophthalmology, 48(1), 58–72.
Plummer, C., Kleinitz, A., Vroomen, P., & Watts, R. (2007). Of Roman chariots and goats in overcoats: The syndrome of Charles Bonnet. Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, 14(8), 709–714.
Rovner, B. W. (2006). The Charles Bonnet syndrome: A review of recent research. Current Opinion in Ophthalmology, 17(3), 275–277.
Terao, T., & Collinson, S. (2000). Charles Bonnet syndrome and dementia. Lancet, 355(9221), 2168.
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Buttaro, M. (2018). Charles Bonnet Syndrome. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1350
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1350
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