– smells like psychosis: olfactory hallucinations (phantosmia) can occur in schizophrenia, epilepsy, or after brain injury. people might smell things that aren't there — like burning, rotting, or chemical odors — often linked to abnormal activity in the orbitofrontal cortex and temporal lobes.
– mirror mirror, who's that again? people with prosopagnosia (“face blindness”) can’t recognize faces — sometimes even their own reflection. it’s not a memory issue, but a breakdown in the fusiform face area, the part of the brain wired for facial identity.
– too real to ignore: hypervigilance, common in PTSD, involves an exaggerated sensitivity to threat. the amygdala becomes overactive, while the prefrontal cortex struggles to inhibit fear responses — meaning even harmless stimuli can feel like danger waiting to happen.