Spirituality and religion in epilepsy.
Epilepsy & behavior : E&B May 1, 2008 Orrin Devinsky, George Lai
Epilepsy, especially temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), is associated with religious experiences that can occur during seizures (ictal), after them (postictal), or between them (interictal). Surveys report that 0.4% to 3.1% of partial epilepsy patients have ictal religious experiences, with higher rates in systematic questionnaires than spontaneous reports. Religious auras are reported by 3.9% of epilepsy patients. Ictal religious experiences are more common in right TLE, while postictal and interictal experiences are more frequent in bilateral TLE. Postictal religious experiences occur in 1.3% of all epilepsy patients and 2.2% of TLE patients. The limbic system and temporal neocortex are implicated, with frontal regions possibly contributing to increased religious interests as a personality trait.