These images may appear static, dynamic or animated. Subjects may react positively or negatively to their visual hallucinations. Additional common characteristics include no personal meaning for the content of the hallucinations and hallucinations vanishing when patients close their eyes. Also, most CBS subjects suffer from social isolation. Reduced visual input cannot be the only cause of CBS because not all visually disabled people have visual hallucinations, and CBS has been described in patients with normal vision.
Previous studies link cognitive deficits with visual hallucinations.
Cognitive deficits in Parkinson's disorder patients have also been associated with risk of hallucinations. A follow-up study of these patients may answer this question. An examination of phenomena in other visual disorders and over a broader age range is now underway. These new studies may help clarify the importance of age as a risk factor. It will also help clarify whether this phenomenon is present in visual disorders with different pathologies and will further define other factors found in association with macular degeneration with hallucinations.