Photic Sneeze Reflex - Overview

Overview

Photic sneeze reflex, also sometimes referred to using the backronym Autosomal dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst (ACHOO) syndrome, and the "Peroutka Sneeze Gene", is a hereditary trait which causes sneezing, possibly many times consecutively (due to naso-ocular reflex ) when suddenly exposed to bright light. The condition affects 18-35% of the human population.

The first mention of the phenomenon is probably in the later work attributed to Aristotle (Problems, book XXXIII). (between the third century BCE to the 6th century CE).

There does not appear to be evidence that this sneeze reflex is actually inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion. Some SNPs have been associated with photic sneeze reflex, yet much of the heredity remains to be understood.