Pareidolic Illusions and Associated Lower Regional Gray Matter Volumes in Community-Dwelling Older Adults Without Dementia: The Arakawa 65+ Study.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Pareidolic illusions involve perceiving meaningful objects in ambiguous or visually complex stimuli. Although seen in dementia, their presence and associated neuroanatomical basis in older adults without dementia remain unclear. Investigating these illusions in this population may reveal early neurodegenerative changes preceding overt dementia. Such insights could support the use of pareidolic illusions as potential early markers for diagnosis and intervention. This study therefore aimed to examine the prevalence and associated neuroanatomical characteristics of pareidolic illusions in community-dwelling older adults without dementia, as assessed by the Noise Pareidolia Test (NPT).

Methods

We investigated the prevalence of pareidolic illusions in older adults aged

SUBMITTER: Nishida H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12409089 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature