Losing your eyesight can make your brain invent things to see

Some people who lose much of their vision to conditions like macular degeneration start seeing detailed, vivid hallucinations — patterns, faces, entire scenes — despite knowing none of it is real. First described by Swiss naturalist Charles Bonnet in 1760 after his own grandfather's experience, it's now understood as the brain filling the silence left by damaged input.

— Charles Bonnet; named by Georges de Morsier, Charles Bonnet syndrome — Described 1760; syndrome named 1938

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