Pseudo-perceptions: what are they and how do they affect the human mind?

There are a series of mental phenomena, in the form of images, that come to arise without the presence of any particular stimulus that triggers or activates them or, on the other hand, they could be keep active in the mind when the stimulus that had triggered them is no longer in front of the subject and all of them are known as pseudo-perceptions within the field of perception. psychopathology.

Pseudo-perceptions are atypical mental images whose form of processing is similar to that of a real perception, being able to emerge in the mind of a person without there being a specific stimulus that could have activated or triggered.

In this article we will see what pseudo-perceptions consist of and what are the main types of them.

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What are pseudo-perceptions?

Pseudo-perceptions are those anomalous psychic images that are processed in much the same way as an image perceived through sight, so these pseudo-perceptions could be confused with real perceptions.

It should be noted that pseudo-perceptions are classified in the field of clinical psychopathology within a psychological phenomenon that has been called "deception". perceptual", and the fundamental characteristic of all the psychopathologies that are within this classification, such as pseudo-perceptions and hallucinations, is that they are based on a series of images that are the fruit of the subject's imagination and that, in turn, he experiences as if they were images that he has perceived abroad as if they were real.

Therefore, all these perceptual deceptions are nothing more than a series of misleading interpretations of mental or cognitive images in sensory-perceptual terms. And this is not because there is any alteration in any of the sense organs or because they are dysfunctional, but because This could be explained by the fact that perception and imagination have very different rules of cognitive functioning. Similar; although, it is true that some pseudo-perceptions or hallucinations could be triggered after ingestion of toxins or due to some brain dysfunction.

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What are the main pseudo-perceptions?

Next we will see the most common pseudo-perceptions that people can experience in certain situations.

1. Memory and eidetic images

Memory images are a series of images related to a person's memories, but relived in a transformed way, and may even be mixed with his own desires.

These types of pseudo-perceptions usually disappear over time, especially if the person does not pay much attention to these transformed memories. Therefore, the eidetic and mnesic images are totally subjective and, in addition, they are often experienced with little vividness and lack vividness.

On the other hand, the eidetic images with a peculiar class of memory images and deal with a series of identical representations, or almost, of sensory impressions, which are usually of an auditory or visual nature, that have remained stored in the mind of the subject that experiment.

A relevant characteristic of eidetic images is that the individual is able to evoke them voluntarily, although they also often emerge in your consciousness involuntarily.

Karl Jaspers stated that eidetic images are imagined, like other pseudo-perceptions, and when the individual experiences them preserves his judgment of reality, since he is aware that these images are not real.

This type of images is common to be experienced during childhood and also among individuals of primitive cultures, although they have also been described by people who have high capacities artistic.

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2. Post-images or consecutive images

Post-images or consecutive images are pseudo-perceptions that occur as a result of previous excessive sensory stimulation.

Its fundamental difference with eidetic images is that in the latter its representation in the mind of the individual could be evoked in successive occasions after an elapsed time, while consecutive images can only be held in the mind of the individual for a few seconds.

Another characteristic of consecutive images is that their image in the person's mind has a characteristics opposite to those of the original image, and for this reason they are also known as “images negative”. An example of consecutive images or post-images is when after having been looking at a dark color, a light color begins to be seen. This type of pseudoperceptions they are not considered as if they were real by the person who experiences them nor are they usually pathological.

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3. parasitic images

Parasitic images are pseudo-perceptions that are differentiated from eidetic and mnesic images in that The former are involuntary and autonomous, while they differ from consecutive images or post-images by their subjectivity; and it is that the person is aware that these parasitic images are a product of their mind.

On the other hand, like the others, the parasitic images are produced by a specific stimulus that triggered them but that is no longer is present when these images are produced in the mind of the person, this characteristic being a differentiating point of the delusions.

Other fundamental characteristics of parasitic images is that they are intrusive in nature and emerge in a person's mind when he does not focus his attention on them. Hence the reason why they have been called "parasites". On the other hand, these pseudoperceptions usually disappear from the individual's mind when he focuses on the experience of them; this being a fundamental difference with the obsessions produced in the form of images, since that when the individual tends to pay attention in obsessions, it is more difficult to make them disappear.

The ghost images usually they occur when the person is fatigued, tired, and also after having suffered a traumatic event.

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4. hallucinoid images

Hallucinoid images are pseudo-perceptions produced in the mind of an individual without the presence of stimuli that can activate them.

Its main characteristics are its autonomy, uncontrollability and subjectivity., at the same time that they present with clear image characteristics and are usually produced by some condition in the system central nervous system, such as a disease or intoxication, whether by a food, a drug or an infection, among others.

Hallucinoid images are usually simple and yet very visual, although they lack any kind of emotional meaning. The person who experiences them is aware that they are the product of her imagination, which differentiates them from a hallucinatory experience.

An example of hallucinoid images are those lights, flashes or simple figures that are produced within of black space when a person closes his eyes, which has also been called "the phenomenon of Muller”.

5. hypnagogic images

Both hypnagogic and hypnopompic images are pseudo-perceptions, which have also been called physiological hallucinations, and they usually occur when the individual who experiences them is in a state of semi-consciousness, that is, between sleep and wakefulness or vice versa.

Hypnagogic images are phenomena that occur when the individual is asleep, being some images that appear in his mind in the order of time that passes until he is completely asleep.

The vast majority of hinagogic images that are experienced are of a visual nature, consisting of a series of visions such as geometric patterns, lights, flashes or shadows.

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6. hypnopompic images

Hypnopompic images are pseudo-perceptions in the form of images that experienced during the period from sleep to awakening. It is common for these images to be integrated by the person who experiences them unconsciously as part of their dreams.

These images, like the hypnagogic ones, are spontaneous and autonomous, in such a way that they emerge and undergo transformations without the person being able to control it. Other characteristics of both is that they are realistic and vivid; however, they are usually not significant to the person experiencing them. In addition, these experiences are very common among the general population without psychopathologies, with studies reporting that approximately 70% of the population has come to experience this type of pseudo-perceptions.

These pseudoperceptions differ from hallucinations for various reasons, such as the fact that in the former the person maintains the judgment of reality and, therefore, they are not attributed on their part to some external force, so that they do not interfere with their daily life, while in the case of hallucinations the opposite usually occurs.