hallucination

Table of Contents

Introduction
The nature of hallucinations
Induction of hallucinations
- Direct brain stimulation
- Sleep
  - Hypnagogic hallucinations
  - Dreams
- Excessive excitation
- Sensory deprivation
- Loss of sleep
- Hypnosis and trance states
- Sensory defects
- Psychological factors
- Chemical factors

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Honoré Daumier: caricature

psilocin and psilocybin

For Students

hallucination summary

Read Next

Man and woman with substance induced mental disorder or psychosis, hallucination, hallucinogens, lsd, drugs

Investigating Therapeutic Uses for Hallucinogens

Illustration showing electrical activity of the human brain

5 Common Misconceptions About Schizophrenia

One day old human baby sleeping in a hospital. Newborn, dreaming, infant, napping sleep. reproductive system.

9 Fun Facts About Sleep

Discover

Chinese Opium den, 19th Century

Timeline of the First Opium War

Remarkable new details of Pluto's largest moon Charon are revealed in this image from New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), taken late on July 13, 2015 from a distance of 289,000 miles

Why Is Pluto No Longer a Planet?

Watergate scandal. Richard M. Nixon. President Nixon gives a press conference and talks to the press, March 12, 1971.

9 American Political Scandals

Baseball laying in the grass. Homepage blog 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society, sports and games athletics

10 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time

Sailboat against a beautiful landscape

Which Waters Do You Pass Through When You “Sail the Seven Seas”?

Communism - mosaic hammer and sickle with star on the Pavilion of Ukraine at the All Russia Exhibition Centre (also known as VDNKh) in Moscow. Communist symbol of the former Soviet Union. USSR

Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse?

Calendar marking march 15th

What Is the “Ides” of March?

hallucination: Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Photos

Honoré Daumier: caricature

psilocin and psilocybin

See All Images →

Topics

hypnopompic state hypnagogic state paranoiac critical method dream hypnosis hallucinogen déjà vu mental disorder perception space perception illusion time perception movement perception infant perception catatonia stress near-death experience delusion memory disorder

Key People

Jean-Étienne-Dominique Esquirol

French psychiatrist

Quiz

44 Questions from Britannica’s Most Popular Health and Medicine Quizzes