Perceptual split: definition, causes and treatments

The human being constantly perceives the reality that surrounds him, obtaining information from the environment through the different directions to later integrate the various data and process them in different cores cerebral.

However, sometimes alterations occur that make objects and stimuli not be perceived correctly. It is the case of the perceptual split.

Perceptual splitting as an alteration of perception

We understand by perceptual split that type of alteration of perception in which the information referring to the stimuli is not perceived in an integrated way. This can occur with information from different sensory modalities, but generally the concept of perceptual splitting tends to make reference to the separation of perceptual elements captured by the same sense, the most common case being that of the disintegration of information visual.

It is important to keep in mind that the problem does not occur at the visual level or in the sensory organs., being these fully functional. And although it is an alteration of perception, we are not dealing with a hallucination either: the perceived stimuli are always real. The problem in question is that although we capture the information correctly, we are not able to integrate it, which generates two perceptions that compete with each other.

In this way, before the perceptual split we see the stimulus disintegrated, appreciating separately aspects that we should see as a whole, like the shape of the objects and their content or separating the color and the shape. We would not see a red apple, but on the one hand the color red and on the other an apple.

Types of perceptual splitting

There is no single type of perceptual split. In general, we can consider that, as regards the type of split that occurs in the same modality sensory and specifically in that of sight, there are two main types of perceptual split: morpholysis and metachromia. In addition to this, it is possible that there is a perceptual split between different senses.

1. Morpholysis

Morpholysis is the perceptual split that occurs only at the level of form. We are unable to piece together the shape information of objects from their content. It is possible, for example, that we see someone's face separated from her body.

2. metachromia

As for metachromias, they refer to those perceptual splits in which we perceive color and shape separately. For example, we see them separately or the color exceeds the shape (as if we went out of line when painting an object), or colors that do not correspond to the real ones.

3. Disintegration of information from different sensory modalities

Generally it is about the dissociation between sight and hearing, although other senses could also fall into this category. Thus, what we hear and what we see is perceived separately, as if it came from two different stimuli. For example, we are unable to relate the voice to the movement of the lips of the person in front of us. It could also happen with sight and touch, for example.

Causes

It is very frequent that morpholysis and metachromia appear in the context of a psychotic episode.. Likewise, the hyperstimulation of the epilepsy it can also generate phenomena of perceptual splitting. It is not uncommon for it to appear before intoxication or consumption of substances such as psychodysleptics. Another context in which perceptual splitting can appear is in the presence of brain lesions caused by trauma. cranioencephalic and cerebrovascular accidents, or by compression of some nerve pathways in cases, for example, of tumor cerebral.

The most probable cause of this type of phenomenon is found in the malfunction of some of the relay nuclei. or nerve pathways where the information from the different perceptual pathways is processed and integrated, both from the same sense and from the set of external information. This causes different elements of the same perception to be perceived separately.

Treatment

Perceptual splitting is not a disorder per se, but rather a symptom. As such, its treatment will depend to a large extent on the type of alteration that generates it. For example, drugs can be prescribed that cancel the effect of the substances taken that generate the alteration, or neuroleptics that can decrease and stop the psychotic outbreak and reduce the possibility of new ones arising. In some cases it may be advisable doing occupational therapy and rehabilitation that can help restore normal functioning of nerve connections.

However, what is always going to be advisable is to provide the patient with information about what is happening, given that this type of alterations can suppose a great level of anguish and concern.