- Purkinje's colour
- Also known as Purkinje phenomenon, Purkinje hallucination, flicker-induced hallucination, and photically induced hallucination. The eponyms Purkinje's colour, Purkinje hallucination, and Purkinje phenomenon refer to the Bohemian physiologist Johannes Evangelista Purkyne (1787-1869), who has been credited with describing the phenomenon in 1819 after having discovered it during his childhood. Phenomeno-logically, Purkinje's colour is characterized by " simple and " geometric visual hallucinations consisting of patterns, motion, and colour, which can be induced by photic stimulation. This can be done with the aid of a stroboscope or simply by facing the Sun with closed eyes, and waving one's slightly separated fingers up and down in front of the eyelids. Purkinje's colours tend to set in a few second after the start of photic stimulation. Its neurophysiological correlates are believed to lie primarily in the occipital cortex, where repetitive light flashes tend to induce widespread activity which may or may not result in subsequent hallucinatory activity.Referencesffytche, D.H. (2008). The hodology of hallucinations. Cortex, 44, 1067-1083.Purkinje, J.E. (1819). Beobachtungen und Versuche zur Physiolgie der Sinne: Beiträge zur Kenntniss des Sehens in subjectiver Hinsicht. Prague: Calve.
Dictionary of Hallucinations. J.D. Blom. 2010.