Those suffering from prosopometamorphopsia see people around them with completely deformed or disturbing facial features. Here’s how this rare neurological disorder works and what can cause it.
It is a very rare neurological condition that alters the perception of faces. Sufferers see real people, but their features may appear deformed, asymmetrical, elongated or even disturbing, while the rest of the environment is perceived normally.
The face of the devil
This is why she was also called demon face syndrome (“devil face syndrome”). Unlike hallucinations, external reality does not disappear: the problem is not what the eyes see, but how the brain processes the image of faces.
In most cases, sufferers are aware that those faces are not really deformed. Distortion can appear both when observing live people and, in some cases, photographs or videos.
Still to be studied
The causes are not yet clear, but prosopometamorphopsia has been associated with brain injury, stroke, head trauma, migraines and, more rarely, other neurological or psychiatric conditions.
