The question
How can the size of an object or the experience of one’s body become distorted?
Overview
Alice in Wonderland syndrome is a name used for distortions in visual perception, body schema and the experience of time. The name describes a clinical literature; it is not evidence that a person enters an alternative reality.
The evidence
Jan Dirk Blom’s 2016 systematic review examined 169 published case descriptions. It grouped reported causes into eight categories, with neurological disorders prominent in adult reports and encephalitides prominent in younger clinical cases.
Interpretation
The review separates clinical cases from similar symptoms reported outside clinical settings. A change in apparent scale, an unusual body sensation and a distortion of time are descriptions to investigate, rather than proof of a single underlying process. The clinical context is essential.
Limits
Case descriptions do not form a representative sample and cannot establish population prevalence. The findings do not mean that an unusual perceptual experience implies infection or any other specific illness. New or recurrent symptoms require clinical assessment. This note presents a source and its boundaries; it does not propose treatment or diagnose the cause of an individual experience.
Source register
Follow the evidence.
Linked research and official information used for this note. Inclusion identifies a source; it does not imply that the source has reviewed this website.
Blom: Alice in Wonderland syndrome, a systematic review (2016) ↗