Man sees distorted ‘demon-like’ faces because of rare neurological disorder

Published

8 months ago

March 22, 2024

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When Victor Sharrah woke up one day in November 2020, he feared he was in some sort of “demonic world”.

When he looked at people’s faces, they appeared “demon-like”, with their ears, noses and mouths stretched back, and with deep grooves in their foreheads, cheeks and chins.

“You can’t imagine how scary it was,” the 59-year-old, from Clarksville, Tennessee, said.

What he was actually seeing were distortions, caused by an incredibly rare neurological disorder, known as prosopometamorphopsia, or PMO.

Even more unusual in the case of Mr Sharrah was that, when he looked at a phone or computer screen, people’s faces appeared normally.

That gave scientists an interesting opportunity to put Mr Sharrah at the centre of an interesting new study – the results of which were recently published in respected medical journal, The Lancet.

For the first time, researchers were able to recreate these rare PMO distortions in the form of pictures.

“As the patient reported no distortion when viewing facial images on a screen or on paper, we asked him to compare an in-person face to a photograph of the face taken in the same room under identical lighting conditions,” the authors said in their report.

“By alternating between observing the in-person face perceived as distorted and the photo on a computer screen-perceived as undistorted, he provided real-time feedback on the perceived differences.

“We then used image-editing software to modify each photo until it matched his in-person perception.”

What is PMO?

There are reportedly fewer than 100 published case reports of PMO, and scientists don’t fully understand what triggers it.

However, they suspect it is caused by dysfunction in the brain network that handles facial processing.

The distortions can vary from case to case, with other people reporting seeing people with droopy or off-set eyes, and others reporting seeing “witch-like” features.

Interestingly, unlike a person experiencing hallucinations due to a mental disorder, a person with PMO is aware that what they are seeing is a distortion or that something is wrong with their vision.

According to NBC, the US partner of Sky News, researchers offered two possible triggers in the case of Mr Sharrah.

The first was that he had carbon monoxide poisoning four months before his PMO symptoms started.

The second was he had endured a significant head injury 15 years earlier while hitting his head on concrete, with MRI scans showing a lesion on the left side of his brain.

Mr Sharrah also has a history of bipolar affective disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the study.

Though PMO symptoms often resolve after a few days or weeks, they can linger for years, and Mr Sharrah said he still sees demonic faces.

‘I came close to having myself institutionalised’

He has found ways to cope with his condition, including living with a roommate and her two kids, which he said has been helpful, because he’s used to having people around, so he isn’t as spooked when he sees new faces in public.

According to NBC, he also finds that green light alleviates his symptoms, so he sometimes wears glasses with green-tinted lenses when he’s in crowds.

Mr Sharrah wants others to know they can manage the condition.

“I came so close to having myself institutionalised,” he added.

According to the study’s lead author, Antonio Mello, a PhD student who works in Dartmouth’s Social Perception Lab, many doctors aren’t aware of PMO and may misdiagnose people with mental health disorders instead.

As a result, some PMO patients have been prescribed medications for schizophrenia or psychosis, which aren’t appropriate for their condition, he added.

US

Donald Trump can seek dismissal of hush money case as sentencing postponed

Published

24 hours ago

November 22, 2024

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Donald Trump can seek dismissal of hush money case as sentencing postponed

A judge has postponed sentencing in Donald Trump’s hush money case and granted permission for his lawyers to seek a dismissal.

It comes after the Manhattan district attorney said he wouldn’t oppose a motion to delay the sentencing.

In May, a New York jury found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to commit election fraud.

It was the first time a US president had been convicted of or charged with a criminal offence.

Trump had tried to cover up “hush money” payments to a porn star in the days before the 2016 election.

When Stormy Daniels‘ claims of a sexual liaison threatened to upend his presidential campaign, Trump directed his lawyer to pay $130,000 (£102,000) to keep her quiet.

The payment buried the story and he later won the presidency.

Trump denied the charges and said the case was politically motivated. He also denied the sexual encounter took place.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan today delayed the sentencing, which had been due to take place on Tuesday.

The office of district attorney Alvin Bragg had asked the judge to postpone all proceedings until Trump finishes his four-year presidency, which starts on 20 January.

Trump’s lawyers say the case should be dismissed because it will create “unconstitutional impediments” to his ability to govern.

Responding to Friday’s decision, a Trump campaign spokesman said: “The American People have issued a mandate to return him to office and dispose of all remnants of the Witch Hunt cases.”

The judge set a 2 December deadline for Trump’s lawyers to file their motion, while prosecutors have until 9 December to respond.

He did not set a new date for sentencing or indicate when he would rule on any motion to throw out the case.

Even before Trump’s win in this month’s election, experts said a jail term was unlikely and a fine or probation more probable.

But his resounding victory over Kamala Harris made the prospect of time behind bars or probation even less likely.

Trump, 78, was also charged last year in three other cases.

One involved him keeping classified documents after he left office and the other two centre on alleged efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.

A Florida judge dismissed the documents case in July, the Georgia election case is in limbo, and the Justice Department is expected to wind down the federal election case as it has a policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.

Trump last week nominated his lawyers in the hush money case, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, for senior roles in the Justice department.

When he re-enters the White House, Trump will also have the power to shut down the Georgia and New York cases.

US

Pam Bondi: Key proponent of Trump’s false 2020 election claims set to head justice department after Gaetz withdrawal

Published

1 day ago

November 22, 2024

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Pam Bondi: Key proponent of Trump's false 2020 election claims set to head justice department after Gaetz withdrawal

Donald Trump has pledged for years to surround himself with ultra-loyalists who can mould his government to his vision without barriers.

That’s precisely why he picked Matt Gaetz. Now he’s out, Pam Bondi is in and she’s equally loyal.

Gaetz was uniquely unpopular on Capitol Hill but ultra-MAGA and ultra-loyal to the president-elect.

He was chosen by the president-elect to do his bidding inside the Justice Department as attorney general.

Critics called his pick “a red alert moment for democracy” and the man a “gonzo agent of chaos” – language that would surely only affirm Trump’s decision in his own proudly disruptive mind.

If it wasn’t for the fact that the president-elect is himself a convicted felon, and a man found liable in a civil court of his own sexual offences, the prospect of Gaetz, with all his baggage, making it through the nomination process would have seemed remote.

But Donald Trump’s return to the White House suggested anything is possible.

And so, beyond his loyalty, Gaetz was Trump’s test for his foot soldiers on Capitol Hill. How loyal were they? Would they wave through anyone he appointed?

It turns out that Gaetz, and the storm around his private life, was too much for a proportion of them.

At least five Senate Republicans were flatly against Matt Gaetz’s confirmation. We understand that they communicated to other senators and those close to Trump that they were unlikely to be swayed.

They included the Republican old guard like Senator Mitch McConnell.

Beyond the hard “no” senators, there were between 20 and 30 other Republicans who were very uncomfortable about having to vote for Gaetz on the Senate floor.

The key question is whether Gaetz was Trump’s intentional wild card crazy choice that he knew, deep down, would probably never fly.

Was Gaetz the candidate he had accepted would be vetoed by senators – who would then feel compelled to wave the rest of his nominees through?

Will Pete Hegseth’s alleged sexual impropriety concern them as they consider the suitability of the former Fox News host and army major to run the Department of Defence?

What about Tulsi Gabbard, the candidate Russian state TV calls ‘our girl’, and the appropriateness of her running America’s intelligence agencies?

These are all appointments that the politicians on Capitol Hill must consider and confirm in the weeks ahead.

We don’t yet know who Trump will choose to direct the FBI.

There are some names being floated which will make the establishment of Washington shudder but then that’s precisely why Trump was elected. He is the disrupter. He said so at every rally, on repeat.

He was quick to pivot to another name to replace Gaetz.

Bondi is the former attorney general of Florida. Professionally she is in a different league to Gaetz. She’s been a tough prosecutor, with a no-nonsense reputation.

She is also among the most loyal of loyalists. Her attachment to Trump stretches way back.

I first came across her in Philadelphia in November 2020 when she was among Trump surrogates claiming the election back then had been stolen from them by Joe Biden and the Democrats.

She was a key proponent of the false claims the election had been rigged and Trump was the rightful winner.

The court cases concluding that was all nonsense didn’t seem to convince her.

Now she is poised to head up the Department of Justice as the country’s top law enforcement official.

US

Donald Trump on day one: Pace of change ‘like nothing you’ve seen in history’, warns campaign official

Published

2 days ago

November 21, 2024

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Within hours of taking office, president-elect Donald Trump plans to begin rolling out policies including large-scale deportations, according to his transition team.

Sky News partner network NBC News has spoken with more than half a dozen people familiar with the executive orders that his team plans to enact.

One campaign official said changes are expected at a pace that is “like nothing you’ve seen in history”, to signal a dramatic break from President Joe Biden’s administration.

Mr Trump is preparing on day one to overturn specific policies put in place by Mr Biden. Among the measures, reported by sources close to the transition team, are:

• The speedy and large-scale deportations of illegal immigrants

• Ending travel reimbursement for military members seeking abortion care

• Restricting transgender service members’ access to gender-affirming care

But much of the first day is likely to focus on stopping illegal immigration – the centrepiece of Trump’s candidacy. He is expected to sign up to five executive orders aimed at dealing with that issue alone after he is sworn in on 20 January.

“There will without question be a lot of movement quickly, likely day one, on the immigration front,” a top Trump ally said.

“There will be a push to make a huge early show and assert himself to show his campaign promises were not hollow.”

But Mr Trump’s campaign pledges also could be difficult to implement.

Deporting people on the scale he wants will be a logistical challenge that could take years. Questions also remain about promised tax cuts.

Meanwhile, his pledge to end the war between Russia and Ukraine in just 24 hours would be near impossible.

Even so, advisers based at Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort or at nearby offices in West Palm Beach, Florida, are reportedly strategising about ending the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Following his decisive victory on 5 November, the president-elect has moved swiftly to build a cabinet and senior White House team.

As of Thursday, he had selected more than 30 people for senior positions in his administration, compared with just three at a similar point in his 2016 transition.

Stephen Moore, a senior economic adviser in Mr Trump’s campaign, told NBC News: “The thing to realise is Trump is no dummy.

“He knows he’s got two to three years at most to get anything done. And then he becomes a lame duck and we start talking about [the presidential election in] 2028.”