Charles Bonnet Syndrome Triggers Hallucinations in 1 in 6 Vision-Loss Patients as Brain Circuits Overfire
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 18
Charles Bonnet Syndrome Triggers Hallucinations in 1 in 6 Vision-Loss Patients as Brain Circuits Overfire
1 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 18
Summary
Roughly 1 in 6 people with retinal disease or major sight loss develop Charles Bonnet syndrome, a condition that causes vivid visual hallucinations while patients usually remain aware the images are not real.
Brain-imaging studies link those hallucinations to overexcitable visual cortex regions that start firing without normal input from the eye, often after age-related macular degeneration damages central vision.
Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss in people 50 and older, making it the most common driver of the syndrome, though CBS can also occur with other eye diseases and blindness.
Doctors say awareness remains low even in medicine, and many older patients hide symptoms for fear of dementia or mental illness despite guidance that CBS is a normal response to vision loss and often eases over time.