OBJECTIVE A systematic review was conducted to synthesize current anatomo-clinical correlations of ecstatic symptoms in focal epilepsy, aiming to provide evidence-based guidance for interpreting this ictal semiology during presurgical evaluation. METHODS We searched PubMed and Web of Science using terms related to ecstatic experience (e.g., ecstatic, bliss, mystical, time dilation) combined...
Epileptic DisordersJune 21, 2025Ionuț-Flavius Bratu, Nada El Youssef, Stanislas Lagarde et al.5 citations
Loss of consciousness/awareness during temporal lobe seizures significantly affects quality of life and is closely linked to pathological thalamocortical synchronization and loss of cortical signal complexity. The medial pulvinar nucleus (PUM) contributes to seizure propagation and awareness impairment, making it a potential target for neuromodulation. Acute high-frequency PUM stimulation has...
An increasing amount of recent research has focused on the multisensory and neural bases of the bodily self. This pre-reflective form of self is considered as multifaceted, incorporating phenomenal components, such as self location, body ownership, first-person perspective, agency, and the perceptual body image. Direct electrical brain stimulation (EBS) during presurgical evaluation of epilepsy...
Ecstatic epilepsy is a rare form of focal epilepsy in which the aura (beginning of the seizures) consists of a blissful state of mental clarity/feeling of certainty. Such a state has also been described as a "religious" or mystical experience. While this form of epilepsy has long been recognized as a temporal lobe epilepsy, we have accumulated evidence converging toward the location of the...
Scientific ReportsApril 11, 2018Salah Boussen, Andreas Spiegler, Christian Bénar et al.4 citations
General anesthesia (GA) is a reversible manipulation of consciousness whose mechanism is mysterious at the level of neural networks leaving space for several competing hypotheses. We recorded electrocorticography (ECoG) signals in patients who underwent intracranial monitoring during awake surgery for the treatment of cerebral tumors in functional areas of the brain. Therefore, we recorded the...
The global workspace (GW) theory proposes that conscious processing results from coherent neuronal activity between widely distributed brain regions, with fronto-parietal associative cortices as key elements. In this model, transition between conscious and non conscious states are predicted to be caused by abrupt non-linear massive changes of the level of coherence within this distributed...
BrainAugust 2009Marie Arthuis, Luc Valton, Jean Régis et al.
Loss of consciousness (LOC) is a dramatic clinical manifestation of temporal lobe seizures. Its underlying mechanism could involve altered coordinated neuronal activity between the brain regions that support conscious information processing. The consciousness access hypothesis assumes the existence of a global workspace in which information becomes available via synchronized activity within...