Coining the Pablo Picasso Syndrome

Abstract

Background The Alice in Wonderland Syndrome has been well described in the literature. Along with sensory disturbances, patients notably experience metamorphopsias, or distortions in size (micropsia/macropsia) and distance (teleopsia), particularly of body parts. Some migraineurs, however, report dislocation and disorientation of body parts, which are common features found in paintings of Pablo Picasso. Methods A 60‐year‐old female with a 20‐year history of chronic migraine presented for evaluation of frequent headaches and visual disturbances. In between her attacks of migraine, she would occasionally notice alterations which she describes as a “Picasso” painting. When looking at people, she would note their ear on top of their head, or their right arm would be short and attached to the face. This would occur 1‐2 times per week and would last 5 to 10 minutes. Inanimate objects, however, would not appear distorted. Results The available literature, including published works and biographies, suggests Picasso did not suffer from migraine. Nonetheless, careful descriptions taken from migraineurs with visual disturbances may uncover features that resemble his paintings, be it dislocation of limbs with hints of cubism, as reported above, or illusory splitting as has been previously reported. Conclusion Dislocation or disorientation of body parts as a migraine‐related visual phenomenon is rare and only sparsely reported in the medical literature. Coining of a “Pablo Picasso Syndrome” may better describe this occurrence.

Is it Useful to Do a Taxonomy of Complex Visual Symptoms in Migraine? A Comment on Coining the Pablo Picasso Syndrome

“…We have read with great interest the paper by Suri and Ali regarding their patient experiencing “cubist vision” as a visual disorder 1 . The patient described in the paper was a 60‐year‐old lady with chronic migraine with at least 20 headache days per month preceded by typical migraine auras.…”