Autoscopic phenomena: case report and review of literature

BACKGROUND: Autoscopic phenomena are psychic illusory visual experiences consisting of the perception of the image of one's own body or face within space, either from an internal point of view, as in a mirror or from an external point of view. Descriptions based on phenomenological criteria distinguish six types of autoscopic experiences: autoscopic hallucination, he-autoscopy or heautoscopic proper, feeling of a presence, out of body experience, negative and inner forms of autoscopy. METHODS AND RESULTS: We report a case of a patient with he-autoscopic seizures. EEG recordings during the autoscopic experience showed a right parietal epileptic focus. This finding confirms the involvement of the temporo-parietal junction in the abnormal body perception during autoscopic phenomena. We discuss and review previous literature on the topic, as different localization of cortical areas are reported suggesting that out of body experience is generated in the right hemisphere while he-autoscopy involves left hemisphere structures

Autoscopic phenomena: case report and review of literature

Abstract Background Autoscopic phenomena are psychic illusory visual experiences consisting of the perception of the image of one's own body or face within space, either from an internal point of view, as in a mirror or from an external point of view. Descriptions based on phenomenological criteria distinguish six types of autoscopic experiences: autoscopic hallucination, he-autoscopy or heautoscopic proper, feeling of a presence, out of body experience, negative and inner forms of autoscopy. Methods and results We report a case of a patient with he-autoscopic seizures. EEG recordings during the autoscopic experience showed a right parietal epileptic focus. This finding confirms the involvement of the temporo-parietal junction in the abnormal body perception during autoscopic phenomena. We discuss and review previous literature on the topic, as different localization of cortical areas are reported suggesting that out of body experience is generated in the right hemisphere while he-autoscopy involves left hemisphere structures.</p

Electrophysiological comparison between males and females in HNPP

Some evidences highlighted a higher clinical expression of hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsy (HNPP) in males, and a higher load of traumatic nerve injuries due to different occupational activity has been invoked to explain this observation. It is unknown whether this increased clinical impairment corresponds to a greater electrophysiological involvement. Thus, we compared clinical and electrophysiological features between men and women in a large cohort of HNPP patients. Nerve palsies and electrophysiological abnormalities were more frequent in men, and electrophysiological findings which differentiated males from females did not show any age-related worsening. In conclusion, our findings showed a higher clinical and electrophysiological involvement in males which does not seem related to different cumulative nerve damage over time. We believe that the higher disease expression may increase the chance to detect the disease in males and, thereby, to underestimate the HNPP diagnosis in female