Abstract
Purpose of review: To summarize the literature on Alice in Wonderland syndrome (AIWS), a disorder characterized by distortions of visual perception, the body schema, and the experience of time.
Recent findings: On the basis of 169 published case descriptions, the etiology of AIWS is divided into 8 main groups, with neurologic disorders affecting mostly adults and elderly patients and encephalitides affecting mostly patients aged ≤18 years. Symptoms of AIWS are also experienced in the general population, with up to 30% of adolescents reporting nonclinical symptoms.
Summary: In clinical cases of AIWS, auxiliary investigations (including blood tests, EEG, and brain MRI) are strongly advised. Treatment should be directed at the suspected underlying condition, although reassurance that the symptoms themselves are not harmful seems to suffice in about 50% of the cases. International classifications such as the DSM and ICD should consider placing the syndrome on their research agenda.
Footnotes
Funding information and disclosures are provided at the end of the article. Full disclosure form information provided by the author is available with the full text of this article at Neurology.org/cp. The Article Processing Charge was paid by the author.
Supplemental data at Neurology.org/cp
- Received October 11, 2015.
- Accepted January 12, 2016.
- © 2016 American Academy of Neurology
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND), which permits downloading and sharing the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially.
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