Picture by Getty / FuturismWhat in case you wakened someday and everyone round you had the identical evil, demonic-looking grimace?This is not the premise of a very wacky “Black Mirror” episode, however is as an alternative the precise waking nightmare for a 58-year-old man who suffers from a uncommon neurological-visual dysfunction known as prosopometamorphopsia.Researchers at Dartmouth Faculty detailed the person’s intriguing case in a brand new paper printed within the journal The Lancet — weird signs that after once more underscore the deep weirdness of the human mind and the numerous issues that may go unsuitable with its notion of actuality.”The affected person acknowledged that the distortions — severely stretched options of the face, with deep grooves on the brow, cheeks, and chin — had been current on each individual’s face he encountered,” the researchers wrote, “however he reported no distortions when taking a look at objects, reminiscent of homes or vehicles.” Fortuitously, the person, who had been affected by the situation for 31 months, did not have any “delusional beliefs” in regards to the individuals round him. Mainly, he knew his household and buddies and strangers weren’t demons and that one thing was actually off about his visible processing.Tellingly, when the person would have a look at individuals’s faces displayed on a pc display screen or on paper, their faces regarded regular, in keeping with the researchers.In an effort to “see” the person’s POV, the researchers had the person have a look at individuals in entrance of him and examine them to an image of the identical individual on a pc display screen. Together with his enter, researchers used enhancing software program on the digital footage to switch individuals’s faces in order that they’d match what the person was seeing together with his personal eyes.In footage accompanying the paper — and within the above YouTube video — individuals’s faces are pulled again and distorted. They mainly appear to be evil, demonic elves.The trigger for prosopometamorphopsia is unknown, however the researchers did be aware {that a} cyst was present in his mind, which has additionally occurred in different individuals with the identical disturbing neurological-visual situation.There isn’t any recognized therapy. It will definitely goes away for some individuals, however for others, it is roughly a everlasting situation.Extra on neuroscience: New Examine Suggests Grownup Brains Would possibly Develop New Neurons