ENTOMOPIA

   Also known as insect vision. The term entomopia comes from the Greek words entomos (insect) and ops (eye). It was coined in or shortly before 1993 by the American neurologists Jaime R. Lopez, Bruce T. Adornato, and William F. Hoyt to denote rows and columns of multiple visual images, assembled of multiple reduplications of a single object or stimulus. The resulting coexistence of similar images within the field of vision is called " multiplication. Entomopia is classified by Lopez et al. as a type of "polyopia. Polyopia is generally classified as a type of "palinopsia, which in turn constitutes a type of " metamorphopsia. In the case described by Lopez et al., the affected individual perceived 100-200 reduplicated images at a time, obscuring his entire field of vision, and making it difficult for him to remain standing. Such episodes of entomopia lasted no longer than 2 min. The etiology and pathophysiology of entomopia are not fully understood. Central variants of polyopia are associated etiologically with a variety of conditions affecting the occipital or occipito-parietal lobe, including encephalitis, trauma, migraine, and the use of "hallucinogens such as mescaline or LSD. It is not inconceivable that similar conditions may be involved in the mediation of entomopia.

   References

   Lopez, J.R., Adornato, B.T., Hoyt, W.F. (1993). 'Entomopia': A remarkable case of cerebral polyopia. Neurology, 43, 2145-2146.