The brain constructs the world we perceive from incomplete information.
These hallucinations appear suddenly, and can last for mere minutes or recur for years. We still don’t fully understand what causes them to come and go, or why certain patients develop them when others don’t.
Rosalie had developed a condition known as Charles Bonnet Syndrome, in which patients with either impaired vision or total blindness suddenly hallucinate whole scenes in vivid color.
Through the elaborate drapings, she could make out animals, children, and costumed characters. Rosalie was alarmed, not by the intrusion, but because she knew this entourage was an extremely detailed hallucination. And she had not taken any medications that might cause hallucinations. Strangest of all, had a real-life crowd of circus performers burst into her room.
