More than 30 years ago, Chinese researchers analysed 300 cases of people with \u2018lilliputian hallucinations\u2019.<\/p>\n
The psychiatric term, which is used to describe visions of tiny humans or fantastical figures, is named after the imaginary race of little people who inhabited the island of Lilliput in the fictional novel Gulliver\u2019s Travels.<\/p>\n
![\"Vintage](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Gullivers-Travels.jpg\")
In Gulliver’s Travels, Gulliver travels to Lilliput, populated by tiny people – Credit: Getty<\/p>\n
All of the patients claimed to see little people or animals moving around. \u201cThey saw them on their clothes when they were dressing and saw them on their dishes when eating,\u201d researchers wrote in a 1991 paper<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe hallucinations were even more vivid when their eyes<\/a> were closed,\u201d and the worst affected \u201cfelt that the mountains<\/a> or buildings surrounding them were pressing down upon them.\u201d<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t until 2015, however, that the mushroom behind the outbreak was formally named and described<\/a>. Researchers purchased a sample from a street market in Yunnan, then sequenced its DNA<\/a>.<\/p>\n They confirmed that L. asiatica was new to science and is more closely related to the common porcini mushroom (Boletus edulis) than it is to any known \u2018magic\u2019 mushroom species.<\/p>\n Subsequent studies have so far failed to identify the psychoactive ingredient that causes people to experience such strange, yet consistent, visions, but studies have been performed on mice.<\/p>\n When rodents are given extracts<\/a> of L. asiatica, they too become hyperactive, then slump into a daze. If they saw Lilliputians, the mice declined to say.<\/p>\n Today, L. asiatica can be found on the menu of many Yunnanese restaurants, where its umami flavour is appreciated and a system has been developed to prepare and serve it safely.<\/p>\n This includes cooking the fungus thoroughly, banning the consumption of alcohol with the meal and sometimes keeping a sample for analysis, just in case.<\/p>\n With the average trip lasting one to three days, and sometimes up to a week, it\u2019s wise to be careful. Colin Domnauer, from the Natural History Museum of Utah, is studying the mushroom and has eaten in places where it\u2019s prepared.<\/p>\n He told BBC Future<\/a> of an encounter he had at a mushroom hot pot restaurant, where the server set a timer for 15 minutes and then said, \u201cDon\u2019t eat it until the timer goes off, or you might see little people.\u201d<\/p>\n Diners have been warned!<\/p>\n To submit your questions, email us at questions@sciencefocus.com, or message our Facebook<\/a>, X<\/a>, or Instagram<\/a> pages (don’t forget to include your name and location).<\/p>\n Check out our ultimate fun facts<\/a> page for more mind-blowing science<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n