The Disorder That Makes Monster Faces Out of Everyone You See
A rare neurologic disorder turns ordinary faces into disturbing monster-like ones, and research is searching for the answer.
Imagine what would happen if suddenly everyone's face that you saw became an unfamiliar and very disturbing one. What would you do and could you tell anyone that this was happening without having them think you were mentally deranged? This particular type of visual distortion does happen, however.
People with prosopometamorphosia have a rare eye distortion that changes how they see faces. Its exact cause is unknown, but it is generally linked to neurological disorders like migraines, epilepsy, and abnormal findings on CT scans and MRIs of the head. It has also been associated with Epstein-Barr virus.
The British neurologist Macdonald Critchley coined the word prosopometamorphopsia to describe a type of metamorphopsia in which people see people’s faces or parts of faces distortedly. On CT studies and MRIs of the head, metamorphoses are often linked to diseases of the eyes or brain.
The disorder should not be confused with another facial recognition issue, prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness. In this more common disorder, people are affected in different ways. Some people might not tell the difference between strangers and people they…
