Charles Bonnet syndrome: cortical hyperexcitability and visual hallucination

Loss of foveal vision with sparing of peripheral vision, as in macular degeneration, is often associated with visual hallucinations: it has been suggested that these occur because deafferentation of neurons in regions of visual cortex results in local neuronal hyperexcitability, and new evidence supports this hypothesis. Loss of foveal vision with sparing of peripheral vision, as in macular degeneration, is often associated with visual hallucinations: it has been suggested that these occur because deafferentation of neurons in regions of visual cortex results in local neuronal hyperexcitability, and new evidence supports this hypothesis.