ABSTRACT
In certain patients with visual hallucinations, a relationship can be established between the hallucinated images and an actual primary visual stimulus. In palinopsia the image of the primary stimulus persists and sometimes recurs after the stimulus is no longer present. We considered (a) the separation of the palinoptic image and the primary stimulus in time, (b) whether they occurred at the same point in the visual field, (c) whether the palinoptic image moved with the eye or could be examined by circumspection. Patients’ reports suggest that palinoptic experiences represent different stages in the transfer of visual signals tied to a retinal coordinate system to a store which remains accessible over long periods of time and has no retinal coordinates.
