Palinopsia revamped: a systematic review of the literature

Abstract

Palinopsia, the persistence or recurrence of visual images after the stimulus has been removed, is a nonspecific term that describes multiple types of visual symptoms with a wide variety of etiologies. For example, palinopsia may be the presenting symptom of a potentially life-threatening posterior cortical lesion, yet it may also be a benign medication side effect. We comprehensively review all published cases and subdivide palinopsia into two clinically relevant categories: illusory palinopsia and hallucinatory palinopsia.

Keywords: akinetopsia; cerebral polyopia; hallucinogen persisting perception disorder; palinopsia; persistent migrainous aura; persistent visual aura; positive spontaneous visual phenomena; saccadic suppression; visual perseveration; visual snow.