gulliverian hallucination

gulliverian hallucination
   Also known as brobdingnagian hallucination. Both terms denote a *macroptic hallucination depicting one or more disproportionally large human figures, either in isolation or embedded in an environment of regular proportions. The gulliverian hallucination constitutes the conceptual and phenomenological counterpart of the * lilliputian hallucination. All the above terms are inspired by the novel Gulliver's Travels, written by the Irish poet and author Jonathan Swift (16671745). It is known that Swift suffered from symptoms reminiscent ofMénière's disease, and that he experienced cognitive changes, memory impairment, personality alterations, language disorder, and facial paralysis during the last 3 years of his life. It has been speculated that the miniature and giant figures featuring in Gulliver's Travels were inspired by * visual hallucinations experienced by Swift himself. According to the French psychiatrist Henri Ey (1900-1977), gulliverian hallucinations differ from lilliputian ones not only because of their perceived size, but also because of the affective tone they evoke. Ey depicts gul-liverian hallucinations as depressing or downright frightening images, which are often executed in sombre colours such as grey and black. Although a certain association with *peduncular hallucinosis has been suggested, the pathophys-iology of gulliverian hallucinations is basically unknown.
   References
   Ey, H. (1973). Traité des hallucinations. Tome 1. Paris: Masson et Cie., Éditeurs.
   Lorch, M. (2006). Language and memory disorder in the case of Jonathan Swift: Considerations on retrospective diagnosis. Brain, 129, 3127-3137.
   Swift, J. (1726). Gulliver's travels. London: B. Motte.

Dictionary of Hallucinations. . 2010.

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  • lilliputian hallucination —    A term used to denote a hallucination featuring miniature individuals, animals, objects, or fantasy figures. The notion of lilliputian hallucination constitutes the logical and conceptual counterpart of the gulliverian hallucination. Both… …   Dictionary of Hallucinations

  • brobdingnagian hallucination —    Also known in the literature in the (misspelled) variants brobdignagian hallucination and brodnigagian hallucination. The term brobdingna gian hallucination is indebted to Brobdingnag,the name of a fictitious country inhabited by huge people,… …   Dictionary of Hallucinations

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  • peduncular hallucination —    Also known as peduncular hallucinosis, pedunculopontine hallucinosis, Lhermitte s hallucinosis, Lhermitte syndrome, *brainstem hallucination, and mesencephalic hallucinosis. The eponyms Lhermitte s hallucinosis and Lhermitte syndrome refer to… …   Dictionary of Hallucinations

  • migraine aura —    The term migraine comes from the Old English megrim, which is in turn indebted to the Greek noun hèmikranion (meaning half the skull). The introduction of the term hèmikranion is attributed to the classical physician Galen of Pergamum, born as …   Dictionary of Hallucinations

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