Yayoi Kusama’s Art and Its Clinical Relevance to Neurovisual Phenomena

Yayoi Kusama’s art offers a rare and powerful window into how neurological disorders can shape visual perception. Many patients struggle to articulate phenomena, flashing lights, trailing images, and shifting shapes, as these experiences fall outside the ordinary visual vocabulary. Kusama’s lifelong use of endless repetition through polka dots and mirrors parallels descriptions of symptoms such as palinopsia and visual snow. This editorial examines how her own representations of complex visual symptoms can serve as visual analogues, offering clinicians a tool to understand and empathize with patients’ experiences. By interpreting Kusama’s work through a neurological lens, it becomes clear how art can bridge lived perception and clinical observation. The associations between specific artworks and named neurovisual phenomena are intended as educational visual analogies rather than diagnostic attributions.