title: Complex hallucinations following occipital lobe damage.
abstract: Visual hallucinations may accompany many neurological and psychiatric disorders. A common localization principle is that lesions to the early sensory cortices lead to elementary hallucinations, whereas complex perceptual experiences are related to the pathology of higher-level cortical regions. We report the case of a patient who experienced complex, non-stereotyped, multimodal (visual and somatosensory) hallucinations following an acute ischaemic vascular lesion in the right medial occipital lobe. This illustrates that the phenomenology of hallucinations not necessarily reflects the exact localization of cerebral pathology. Instead, the damaged area may serve as a focus of an abnormally activated neuronal network.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Szeged, Semmelweis u. 6, Szeged H-6725, Hungary. besa@nepsy.szote.u-szeged.hu
authors.forename: Sándor
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Beniczky
authors.forename: Szabolcs
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kéri
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vörös
authors.forename: Aurélia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ungureán
authors.forename: György
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Benedek
authors.forename: Zoltán
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Janka
authors.forename: László
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vécsei
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006423:Hemianopsia / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology