Contributor: Chris Holmes MD

Educational Pearls:

• "It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards" - Transient Global Amnesia

• A syndrome with sudden retrograde memory loss in which patients cannot retain new information

• Characterized by perseveration in frequent intervals

• Typically improves within hours

• MRI is normal initially

• Alice In Wonderland Syndrome

• A disorder in which patients experience distortions in their visual perceptions

• Most often characterized by micropsia and/or macropsia

• Other symptoms may include illusory movement or wavy lines

• Alice in Wonderland as a metaphor for birth

• Traveling down the rabbit hole is conception

• Alice getting bigger in a confined space is pregnancy

• Drinking potions is amniotic fluid

• Escaping to explore a scary world is childbirth

References

1. Blom JD. Alice in wonderland syndrome. Alice Wonderl Syndr. 2019;(June):1-221. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-18609-8

2. Ropper M.D. AH. Transient Global Amnesia. N Engl J Med. 2023;(388):635-640. doi:10.1056/NEJMra2213867

Summarized by Jorge Chalit, OMSII | Edited by Meg Joyce & Jorge Chalit, OMSII