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Autoscopic phenomena

T R Dening1, G E Berrios

  • 1Fulbourn Hospital, Cambridge.

The British Journal of Psychiatry : the Journal of Mental Science
|December 1, 1994
PubMed
Summary

Autoscopy, a visual experience of oneself in external space, is often linked to neurological and psychiatric conditions. This phenomenon may result from a complex interplay of factors influencing temporal lobe activity.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychiatry
  • Cognitive Psychology

Background:

  • Autoscopy is defined as seeing one's own image in external space, viewed from within one's body.
  • This review synthesizes historical, conceptual, and quantitative data on autoscopic phenomena.

Observation:

  • A study analyzed 53 published cases since 1935 and 3 personally observed patients.
  • Data included demographics, neurological/psychiatric history, and autoscopic image characteristics.

Findings:

  • The study included 53 men and 18 women, with a mean age of 39.5 years.
  • Neurological illness (59%), particularly epilepsy, and psychiatric disorders (59%), including delirium, depression, and psychosis, were common.
  • Speaking autoscopic images correlated with younger age, male sex, psychosis, longer duration, and hypnagogic/hypnopompic experiences.

Implications:

  • Autoscopy may arise from a convergence of factors: gender, personality, neurological/psychiatric disease, exhaustion, and dissociation.
  • These factors may interact to disinhibit temporal lobe activity.
  • A cognitive neuropsychological hypothesis is proposed, suggesting future research directions.

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