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What hallucination reveals about our minds

9,694,315 views |

Oliver Sacks |

TED2009

• February 2009

Neurologist and author Oliver Sacks brings our attention to Charles Bonnet syndrome -- when visually impaired people experience lucid hallucinations. He describes the experiences of his patients in heartwarming detail and walks us through the biology of this under-reported phenomenon.

Neurologist and author Oliver Sacks brings our attention to Charles Bonnet syndrome -- when visually impaired people experience lucid hallucinations. He describes the experiences of his patients in heartwarming detail and walks us through the biology of this under-reported phenomenon.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

About the speaker

Oliver Sacks

Neurological anthropologist

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Since "Awakenings" stormed the bestseller lists (and the silver screen), Oliver Sacks has become an unlikely household name, single-handedly inventing the genre of neurological anthropology.

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This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.