Abstract
The “Alice in Wonderland syndrome” (AIWS) is a neurological disorder characterized by altered body schema perception, visual, or somesthetic symptoms, which is frequently associated with migraine. In this article, we present the earliest known description of symptoms attributable to AIWS in the medical literature. During a lecture held on November 22, 1887, at the Salpêtrière, Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–1893) examined a patient with somesthetic symptoms (partial macrosomatognosia) in the context of migraine with aura. Although this condition was not known at the time, Charcot tried to provide an accurate semiological and nosographic framework of this case, attributing the complex of symptoms to migraine with aura and epilepsy with sensory symptoms. With intellectual honesty and clinical prudence, Charcot correctly pointed to a disturbance in the excitability of cortical areas responsible for processing and perceiving sensory stimuli.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Not applicable.
References
Blom JD (2016) Alice in Wonderland syndrome: a systematic review. Neurol Clin Pract 6:259–270
Lanska DJ, Lanska JR (2018) The Alice-in-Wonderland syndrome. Front Neurol Neurosci 42:142–150
Todd J (1955) The syndrome of Alice in Wonderland. Can Med Assoc J 73:701–704
Mastria G, Mancini V, Viganò A, Di Piero V (2016) Alice in Wonderland syndrome: a clinical and pathophysiological review. Biomed Res Int 2016:8243145
Charcot JM (1887-1888) Leçons du Mardi à La Salpêtrière. Notes de Cours de MM. Blin, Charcot et Colin. Policliniques, Paris
Brigo F (2021) Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–1893) and his second thoughts about hysteria. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 79:173–174
Sandyk R (1998) Reversal of a body image disorder (macrosomatognosia) in Parkinson’s disease by treatment with AC pulsed electromagnetic fields. Int J Neurosci 93:43–54
Ho SS, Berkovic SF, Newton MR, Austin MC, McKay WJ, Bladin PF (1994) Parietal lobe epilepsy: clinical features and seizure localization by ictal SPECT. Neurology 44:2277–2284
Teive HA, Kowacs PA, Maranhão Filho P, Piovesan EJ, Werneck LC (2005) Leao’s cortical spreading depression: from experimental “artifact” to physiological principle. Neurology 65:1455–1459
Fisher RS, van Emde BW, Blume W, Elger C, Genton P, Lee P, Engel J Jr (2005) Epileptic seizures and epilepsy: definitions proposed by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) and the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE). Epilepsia 46:470–472
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Ildebrando Appollonio, Clinica Neurologica, Ospedale S. Gerardo, Monza, Dip.to di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università di Milano Bicocca; Paolo Benna, Neuroscience Department, Università di Torino, Turin, Italy; Paolo Caffarra, Unit of Neuroscience, DiMeC University of Parma, Parma, Italy; Laura D´Acunto, Clinical Unit of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Surgery, and Health Sciences; Cattinara University Hospital ASUGI, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy; Carmen Gerace, Neurology Department, San Camillo Forlanini Hospital, Rome, Italy, on behalf of the Italian Study Group on the History of Neurology of the Italian Neurological Society (Società Italiana di Neurologia, SIN), for their contribution to the final validation of the present manuscript and recommendations. We thank Dr. Olivier Walusinski for his fruitful suggestions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Consortia
Contributions
Francesco Brigo conceived and wrote the article; the other authors revised it critically for important intellectual content.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval
Not required.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brigo, F., Zanchin, G., Martini, M. et al. Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–1893) and the “Alice in Wonderland syndrome”. Neurol Sci 43, 2141–2144 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-021-05531-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-021-05531-5