- Iran mourns president Raisi's death in helicopter crash
- Attack on tourists rocks fledgling Afghanistan tourism sector
- Paralympics should put disability back on global agenda, says IPC chief
- South Africa's top court strikes Zuma from ballot
- Crunch time looms for BHP's bid buy Anglo American
- Kane to face old club Spurs for first time in Seoul
- Markets rise as traders cheered by China property plan
- Black farmers in Brazil changing views on coffee production
- Iran's President Raisi declared dead in helicopter crash
- Australia police arrest 554 in domestic violence crackdown
- South Korea, Britain host AI summit with safety top of agenda
- New president Lai vows to defend Taiwan's democracy
- Forever fad: Rubik says his cube 'reminds us why we have hands'
- Trump eyes witness stand as trial draws to a close
- Ryanair annual profit jumps on higher demand, fares
- High-priced Cummins, Starc face off as IPL enters playoffs
- Iran media says President Raisi died in helicopter crash
- Dominican Republic President Abinader re-elected to 2nd term
- New Taiwan president Lai hails 'glorious' democracy
- New Caledonia separatists defy French efforts to unblock roads
- Timberwolves knock out defending champion Nuggets, Pacers oust Knicks
- Trump biopic hits Cannes Film Festival
- Iran President Raisi's helicopter found, 'no sign of life'
- Three talking points ahead of 2024 French Open
- 'Haikyu!!': Comic heroes fuel Japan Olympic volleyball manga mania
- Timberwolves rally to knock defending champion Nuggets out of NBA playoffs
- London court set to rule on Julian Assange extradition
- Business and Bollywood votes in India election
- Pope calls anti-migrant attitudes at US border 'madness'
- Mexico aims to be big economic winner from US-China tensions
- Uncertain future for thousands after deadly Brazil floods
- Schauffele makes the putt of his life for first major win
- Wirtz returns to help unbeaten Leverkusen chase history
- Search for Iran's President Raisi after helicopter goes missing
- DeChambeau's powerful putting has him excited for US Open
- Taiwan to swear in new president as China pressure grows
- Atalanta can end 61-year wait for trophy in Europa League final
- Schauffele birdies final hole to capture PGA for first major win
- Guardiola casts doubt over long-term Man City future
- Hollywood icons Costner and Demi Moore make Cannes comeback
- Pacers shoot down Knicks to reach NBA Eastern Conference finals
- Schauffele birdies final hole, captures first major at PGA Championship
- McLaughlin powers to Indy 500 pole in all-Penske front row
- Monaco footballer tapes over LGBTQ badge
- Korda wins sixth LPGA title of year with win at Liberty National
- Pacers put on shooting show to down Knicks, reach NBA Eastern Conference finals
- US envoy touts 'potential' of Israel-Saudi deal in Netanyahu talks
- Dominicans vote for president in poll overshadowed by Haiti crisis
- Brest secure Champions League qualification, PSG win without Mbappe
- Mbappe absent as PSG win final Ligue 1 game
'I woke up in a demon world': How condition makes faces look distorted
When Victor Sharrah woke up one morning he was shocked to see that his housemate suddenly had pointed ears, gigantic eyes and a slashed mouth that stretched to the edges of his face.
Trying to remain calm, Sharrah took his dog for a walk, only to be met by people on the street who had similarly strange, twisted faces.
"My first thought was that I woke up in a demon world," Sharrah told AFP in a phone call from his home in Clarksville, Tennessee.
"I really started freaking out," the 58-year-old chef said. He considered getting himself "committed to the psych ward".
But Sharrah had not "totally lost his mind", as he feared.
He suffers from an extremely rare visual condition called prosopometamorphopsia -- or PMO for short.
For people with this condition, faces appear distorted in a variety of ways. While Sharrah sees demons, some see elves, PMO researcher Antonio Mello told AFP.
For some patients, one half of a face droops below the other. Others see purple or green faces, or ones constantly in motion.
Sometimes the condition only lasts a few days. But more than three years after waking to that scary first morning in November 2020, Sharrah still sees "demons".
- 'Traumatic' -
One aspect of Sharrah's condition makes him unique.
Unlike other people with PMO, when he sees faces on flat screens they appear normal.
This allowed Mello and other researchers at Dartmouth College in the US to create the first "photo-realistic" images representing how people with PMO see faces, they said in research published in The Lancet on Friday.
To create the images, the researchers had Sharrah compare photos of Mello and another person diplayed on a computer screen with the distortions he could see on their real-life faces.
For other PMO patients, the faces on the photos would have also appeared distorted, making such a comparison difficult.
Sharrah said that life with PMO is "far more traumatic than the pictures can convey".
"What people don't understand when they see those pictures is that in real life that face is moving -- gesturing and talking."
The exact cause of prosopometamorphopsia remains unknown.
Jason Barton, a neurologist at the University of British Columbia not involved in the new study, said that PMO is a "symptom, not a disorder," so could have multiple causes.
In most cases Barton has researched, "something happened in the brain that correlated with the onset of this abnormal experience", he told AFP.
Sharrah does have a lesion in his brain from an injury he suffered while working as a long-haul trucker in 2007.
But Mello said he did not believe this was related to PMO, because MRI scans showed the lesion is on Sharrah's hippocampus, a part of the brain "not associated with the face processing network".
Only around 75 cases of PMO have been previously reported in scientific literature.
But Mello said that more than 70 patients have contacted his lab over the last three years alone.
The terrifying nature of the condition mean it has often been misdiagnosed as schizophrenia or psychosis, he added.
- Adapting to demon world -
Sharrah only learned about PMO after posting about his experience on an online support group for people with bipolar disorder.
It was a huge relief.
"It meant I wasn't psychotic, you know?" he said.
Sharrah, who has perfect vision, had glasses custom made with a green tint that decreases the extremity of the distortions. Red makes them "more intense," he said.
As well as colour, depth perception seems to play a role. Though Sharrah does not see face distortions on flat screens, they started to appear when the researchers had him wear a virtual reality headset, Mello said.
Sharrah said he has largely adapted to his strange new world, and no longer wears his green glasses.
"It's been three years, I've kind of gotten used to it," he said.
But in crowded places such as Walmart, the army of demons around him can still be "overwhelming", he added.
Because PMO patients know what they are seeing is not real, many face a difficult decision. Is it worth telling people how grotesque they look, at the risk of sounding crazy?
Some choose silence. Mello spoke of a man who has never told his wife of many years that her face now appears distorted to him.
Sharrah said he shared his experience so that other people with PMO could avoid getting "institutionalised for psychosis".
"So they know what's going on -- and don't experience the trauma that I went through."
S.Keller--BTB