Hallucinations: Causes, Types, Diagnosis and Treatment
A special issue of Diagnostics (ISSN 2075-4418). This special issue belongs to the section "Pathology and Molecular Diagnostics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2023) | Viewed by 579
Special Issue Editor
2. Coma Science Group, GIGA Consciousness, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
Interests: cognitive neuroscience; neuroscience; neurophysiology; neuroimaging; electrophysiology; brain imaging; statistics; algorithms; applied mathematics; cognitive neuropsychology
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
A hallucination is a false perception of objects or events involving your senses, including sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. Hallucinations seem real, but they are not. Chemical reactions and/or abnormalities in your brain can be at the basis of these false perceptions. From a physiopathological standpoint, there are many possible causes for hallucinations, including mental health disorders, physical illnesses, sensory problems, and drug use and/or withdrawal. For a diagnosis about the causes underlying hallucinations, medical doctors will usually conduct a physical exam and tests to rule out medical or neurological causes of your false perceptions. Diagnostic tests can include the following: (i) blood tests to look for metabolic or toxic causes; (ii) electroencephalography (EEG), to check for abnormal electrical activity in your brain, including seizures; (iii) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), used to look for structural problems in the brain, which can be caused by brain tumors or strokes. Treatment options for hallucinations depend on the underlying cause and can include psychotherapy, (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT), and antipsychotic drugs administration. If the hallucinations are caused by an underlying illness, treating that condition may also prevent future hallucinations.
Besides their role as symptoms of specific physiopathological and/or psychopathological conditions, hallucinations can be linked to the use of psychotropic drugs. Indeed, many ‘recreational’ drugs are nowadays used either as anesthetics (i.e., ketamine), in the treatment of specific disorders, such as psilocibine for post-traumatic stress disorder, or in chronic patients’ pain management (cannabis, THC).
We owe a final mention to REM sleep and dreaming; indeed, dreaming is a peculiar hallucinatory condition that has been, and still is, widely investigated.
This Special Issue invites researchers studying the topic of hallucinations in its various and different facets to share their work concerning novel views on the neurophysiological underpinnings of hallucinatory experiences and on innovative diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to hallucination management in pathophysiological contexts.
Dr. Andrea Piarulli
Guest Editor
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