Navigating the Visual Distortions Associated with Charles Bonnet Syndrome

Bhavik Jani; Tushar Thanki; Kushal Parekh

Bhavik Jani Assistant Professor, School of Pharmacy, RK University, Kasturbadham, Rajkot, Gujarat, India
Tushar Thanki Research Scholar, School of Pharmacy, RK University, Kasturbadham, Rajkot, Gujarat, India
Kushal Parekh Assistant Professor, School of Pharmacy, RK University, Kasturbadham, Rajkot, Gujarat, India

Keywords: Visual Hallucination, Charles Bonnet Syndrome, Impaired Vision, Visual Pathway, Neurobiology

Abstract

The term Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS) describes the visual hallucinations that arise from the brain adapting to a substantial loss of eyesight. Age-related macular degeneration and other eye diseases that impair vision are more common in the elderly than in any other age group. Damage to the visual pathway causes visual hallucinations in people with CBS. These patients retain entire intellectual functioning along with partial or complete knowledge that the imaginations are not genuine, absence of psychosocial disorders, and absence of hallucinations impacting other sensory organs. The literature on neurology, geriatric medicine, and psychiatry has extensively recorded cases of CBS; however, optometry and ophthalmology have not provided as much
material. Therefore, practising clinicians need to be more aware of the symptoms and signs linked with CBS. This review discusses the pathophysiology of CBS, alternative causes of visual hallucinations, and practical therapeutic techniques.

How to cite this article:
Jani B, Thanki T, Parekh K. Navigating the
Visual Distortions Associated with Charles
Bonnet Syndrome. Chettinad Health City Med
J. 2025;14(3):31-36.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2278.2044.202536

References

Kester EM. Charles Bonnet syndrome: case presentation and literature review.Optometry. 2009;80(7):360-6. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Donovan NJ, Blazer D. Social isolation and loneliness in older adults: review and commentary of a Nation-

al Academies Report. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2020 Dec;28(12):1233-44. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Husain MO, Chaudhry IB, Blakemore A, Shakoor S, Husain MA, Lane S, Kiran T, Jafri F, Memon R, Panagioti

M, Husain N. Prevalence of depression and anxiety in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

and their association with psychosocial outcomes: a cross-sectional study from Pakistan. SAGE Open Me

d. 2021;9:20503121211032813. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]