Editing Stendhal syndrome

{{short description|Psychosomatic condition of being overwhelmed by art or beauty}}
{{For|the film|The Stendhal Syndrome}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Expand French|Syndrome de Stendhal|date=April 2025}}
{{Expand German|Stendhal-Syndrom|date=April 2025}}
'''Stendhal syndrome''', '''Stendhal's syndrome''' or '''Florence syndrome''' is a [[psychosomatic]] condition involving [[Tachycardia|rapid heartbeat]], confusion, [[hallucination]]s,<ref name=Telegraph /> and even [[Syncope (medicine)|fainting]], allegedly occurring when individuals become exposed to objects, artworks, or phenomena of great [[beauty]].<ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1136/bcr.06.2008.0317| title = Stendhal syndrome: A case of cultural overload|journal=BMJ Case Reports| volume = 2009| pages = bcr0620080317| year = 2009| last1 = Nicholson | first1 = Timothy Richard Joseph| last2 = Pariante | first2 = Carmine| last3 = McLoughlin | first3 = Declan| pmc = 3027955 | pmid=21686859}}</ref>[[File:Stendhal.jpg|thumb|upright|Stendhal syndrome was named after Marie-Henri Beyle (1783–1842), better known by his pen name, [[Stendhal]].]]
The affliction is named after the 19th-century French author [[Stendhal]] ([[pseudonym]] of Marie-Henri Beyle), who described his experience with the phenomenon during his 1817 visit to [[Florence]], [[Italy]], in his book ''[[Naples and Florence: A Journey from Milan to Reggio]]''. When he visited the [[Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence|Basilica of Santa Croce]], where [[Niccolò Machiavelli]], [[Michelangelo]] and [[Galileo Galilei]] are buried, he was overcome with profound emotion. Stendhal wrote:{{quote|I was in a sort of ecstasy, from the idea of being in Florence, close to the great men whose tombs I had seen. Absorbed in the contemplation of sublime beauty {{nowrap|.&thinsp;.&thinsp;.}} I reached the point where one encounters celestial sensations {{nowrap|.&thinsp;.&thinsp;.}} Everything spoke so vividly to my soul. Ah, if I could only forget. I had palpitations of the heart, what in [[Berlin]] they call 'nerves'. Life was drained from me. I walked with the fear of falling.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OxyNfsmXfYEC&pg=PA196 | title=Interfaces of Performance | editor-first1=Maria |editor-last1= Chatzichristodoulou | editor-first2=Janis |editor-last2= Jefferies |editor-first3=Rachel |editor-last3= Zerihan | publisher = Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |year= 2009 |page= 196 |isbn= 9781409486145 }}</ref>}}

Although psychologists have long debated whether Stendhal syndrome exists,<ref name=Telegraph /> the apparent effects on some individuals are severe enough to warrant medical attention.<ref>{{cite news|author=Clyde Haberman|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/15/world/florence-s-art-makes-some-go-to-pieces.html|title=Florence's Art Makes Some Go to Pieces|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=15 May 1989|access-date=1 October 2019|author-link=Clyde Haberman}}</ref> The staff at Florence's [[Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova|Santa Maria Nuova hospital]] are accustomed to tourists suffering from dizzy spells or disorientation after viewing the [[David (Michelangelo)|statue of David]], the artworks of the [[Uffizi|Uffizi Gallery]], and other historic treasures of the Tuscan city.<ref name=Telegraph>{{cite news|author=Nick Squires|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/7914746/Scientists-investigate-Stendhal-Syndrome-fainting-caused-by-great-art.html|title=Scientists investigate Stendhal Syndrome – fainting caused by great art|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|location=London|date=28 July 2010|access-date=1 October 2019}}</ref>

Though there are numerous accounts dating from the early 19th century, the phenomenon of people fainting while taking in Florentine art was first named in 1979, when it was described by Italian psychiatrist [[Graziella Magherini]], who observed over a hundred similar cases among tourists. There is no evidence to define Stendhal syndrome as a specific [[Mental disorder|psychiatric disorder]], and it is not listed as a recognised condition in the ''[[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders]]''; however, there is scientific evidence that the same [[Cerebral cortex|cerebral]] areas involved in emotional responses are stimulated during exposure to art.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Innocenti |first1=Claudia |last2=Fioravanti |first2=Giulia |last3=Spiti |first3=Raffaello |last4=Faravelli |first4=Carlo |title=La sindrome di Stendhal fra psicoanalisi e neuroscienze |journal=Rivista di Psichiatria |date=1 March 2014 |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=61–66 |doi=10.1708/1461.16139|pmid=24770571 |issn=2038-2502 |trans-title=The Stendhal syndrome between psychoanalysis and neuroscience |language=it}}</ref>

A more recent account of the Stendhal syndrome was in 2018, when a visitor to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence suffered a [[heart attack]] while admiring [[Sandro Botticelli]]'s ''[[The Birth of Venus]]''.<ref>{{cite news|first=Jonathan |last=Jones |author-link=Jonathan Jones (journalist) |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/shortcuts/2018/dec/18/stendhal-syndrome-botticelli-the-birth-of-venus|title=Stendhal syndrome: can art really be so beautiful it makes you ill?|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=18 December 2018|access-date=27 November 2019}}</ref>

== The Scientific Stendhal Syndrome ==
{{one source|section|date=April 2025}}

The Scientific Stendhal Syndrome is a transient psychosomatic response characterized by intense physiological and emotional reactions ([[tachycardia]], [[vertigo]], [[hyperventilation]], or [[crying]]) triggered by exposure to scientific concepts, discoveries, or representations that challenge cognitive paradigms or evoke a perception of intellectual sublimity. Although not formally recognized in diagnostic manuals such as the DSM-5, the term is used{{by whom?|date=April 2025}} by analogy with the classic Stendhal Syndrome (associated with art), extrapolating its framework to contexts of epistemological astonishment.
Clinical manifestations include activation of the [[autonomic nervous system]] (15-20% increase in [[cortisol]] according to Schurtz studies, 2014){{incomplete citation|date=April 2025}} and activation of the anterior [[Insular cortex|insula]] (related to [[Interoception|interoceptive awareness]]) and [[dorsomedial prefrontal cortex]] (linked to [[self-reflection]]), detected through [[Functional magnetic resonance imaging|fMRI]]. The release of [[dopamine]] in the [[nucleus accumbens]] ([[mesolimbic pathway]]) suggests a [[Reward system|reward mechanism]] associated with resolving [[cognitive dissonance]] when faced with revolutionary ideas.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}
Triggering factors range from unification theories (e.g., [[Einstein's field equations]]) to visualizations of cosmic scales (e.g., [[Hubble Space Telescope|Hubble]] images), with higher prevalence in individuals with high openness to experience ([[Big Five personality traits|Big Five]]) and training in [[Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics|STEM]] disciplines. Keltner's studies (2023){{incomplete citation|date=April 2025}} propose that this phenomenon emerges from the dissonance between the finite (individual) and the infinite (cosmos), activating evolutionary responses of "tonic immobility" to stimuli that exceed adaptive processing capacity.
Implications: Unlike "moral elevation," it lacks a prosocial component, focusing on the confrontation between the known and the unfathomable. Its study provides insights into the interaction between emotion and cognition in the construction of knowledge.
Case study: In 2017, a group of MIT researchers documented that 18% of planetarium visitors experienced "extreme emotion" when viewing representations of the Big Bang or black holes.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}
The Scientific Stendhal Syndrome is not a pathology, but a manifestation of the human capacity to marvel at the beauty and complexity of the world.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=26 October 2023 |date=2012 |language=es |title=When science makes us cry: the emotional power of discovering the universe |url=https://ipopulus.com/cuando-la-ciencia-nos-hace-llorar-el-poder-emocional-de-descubrir-el-universo/ |website=ipopulus.com}}<!-- auto-translated from Spanish by Module:CS1 translator --> </ref>{{unreliable source?|date=April 2025}}

==See also==
* [[Double Rainbow (viral video)|Double Rainbow]]
* [[Jerusalem syndrome]]
* [[Lisztomania]]
* [[Museum fatigue]]
* [[Paris syndrome]]
* [[Reflex syncope]]
* ''[[The Stendhal Syndrome]]'', a 1996 [[psychological thriller]] film on the subject

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [[Graziella Magherini]]. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20090505112209/http://www.auxologia.it/stendhalsyndrome/ La Sindrome di Stendhal]''. Firenze, Ponte Alle Grazie, 1989. {{in lang|it}}
* [http://www.wordspy.com/words/Stendhalssyndrome.asp Word Spy definition]
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[[Category:Somatic symptom disorders]]
[[Category:Psychopathological syndromes]]
[[Category:Stendhal]]