Alice in Wonderland syndrome

English

Etymology

After Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865; often known as Alice in Wonderland), in which the protagonist changes size after consuming a potion and a cake.

Noun

Alice in Wonderland syndrome (uncountable)

1. (medicine, neurology) A disorienting neurological condition involving micropsia, macropsia, or size distortion of other sensory modalities.
   • 1977 February, Stuart M. Copperman, “" Alice in Wonderland" Syndrome as a Presenting Symptom of Infectious Mononucleosis in Children: A Description of Three Affected Young People”, in Clinical pediatrics, volume 16, number 2, page 143:

     Three cases of "Alice in Wonderland" syndrome (metamorphopsia) are presented and described as a presenting symptom of infectious mono nucleosis in a preadolescent male and in two late teenage females.

   • 1998 August, Yung-Ting Kuo, Nan-Chang Chiu, Ein-Yiao Shen, Che-Sheng Ho, Ming-CheWu, “Cerebral perfusion in children with Alice in Wonderland syndrome”, in Pediatric neurology, volume 19, number 2, page 105:

     Alice in Wonderland syndrome (AIWS) is characterized by visual hallucinations and bizarre perceptual distortions.

   • 2019, Jan Dirk Blom, Alice in Wonderland Syndrome:

     After all, Alice in Wonderland syndrome was, until recently, believed to be so rare that most university courses in medicine, psychology and the neurosciences did not even bother to address it.

Synonyms

• Todd's syndrome

Translations

neurological condition affecting the perception of size

• French: syndrome d’Alice au pays des merveilles m
• Japanese: 不思議の国のアリス症候群 (Fushigi no Kuni no Arisu shōkōgun)
• Portuguese: síndrome de Alice no país das maravilhas f

See also

• macrosomatognosia