Prosopometamorphopsia, a Condition That Distorts Faces

Imagine one day you see your roommate, and his face looks like a demon or something out of Star Trek. That was the experience of Victor Sharrah when he began to suffer from a rare condition called prosopometamorphopsia. Other people with the condition may see faces with features in the wrong places, weird textures, or other distortions, but only on actual faces they encounter. Pictures of faces appear normal to them, which allowed an artist to recreate what Sharrah sees in the images above. Prosopometamorphopsia is so rare that only around 100 cases have been identified since 1904. However, it is probable that people who suffer from it do not seek help for fear that they will be diagnosed with schizophrenia or other mental illness. Yet the problem in perceiving faces seems to be the only symptom. Scientists don't know what causes it, but the effects are often temporary, and if not, there are ways to treat it. Farrah is able to see faces as normal with the help of color-shifting glasses. Read more about prosopometamorphopsia at Smithsonian.

(Image credit:  A. Mello et al.)