Functional dissociative seizures (FDS) are paroxysmal seizure-like events with no electrographic abnormalities. Structured psychoeducation is considered a standard component of FDS management. Yoga Nidra (YN) is a guided meditative relaxation technique that has shown benefit in other neuropsychiatric conditions, but its adjunctive role in FDS has not been studied. To evaluate whether adjunctive...
Recent studies have shown that mindfulness therapy and attention tasks may benefit patients with seizure disorders. However, there is limited research on levels of mindfulness and electroencephalogram (EEG) power during a mindfulness task in these patients. This study evaluated levels of mindfulness in patients admitted to the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) and its relationship with EEG power...
BACKGROUND: Dissociation, a disruption in the coherent integration of experience, is increasingly recognized as a clinically relevant yet underexplored phenomenon in epilepsy. While psychobehavioral symptoms such as anxiety and depression are routinely addressed in epilepsy care, dissociation remains understudied and formal assessment frameworks to better evaluate and integrate dissociative...
Epilepsy & BehaviorFebruary 23, 2026Jade-Jocelyne Zouki, Hua Ye, Alfred Pak-Kwan Lo et al.
Functional/Dissociative Seizures (FDS) are presentations that appear like epileptic seizures but occur without abnormal cortical electrical activity in the brain. Abnormal respiratory patterns, particularly hyperventilation, have been frequently observed in people with FDS, suggesting this may be a potential therapeutic target. This scoping review aimed to explore the various applications of...
This feasibility study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of a simplified, app-based mindfulness intervention for people with epilepsy (PWE) in mainland China. Ten adults with epilepsy completed a 6-week, self-guided mindfulness program (15 min/day, 6 days/week) delivered via a WeChat mini-program. Feasibility was measured by program completion rates and...
Epilepsy & BehaviorJanuary 22, 2026Fredrik K Andersson, Bisrat Ezra, Kenney Roy Roodakker et al.
Ecstatic seizures (EcS) have captured scientific interest due to their potential origin in anterior insular networks, emphasizing the insula's role in self-processing. Their frequency in epilepsy or insular pathology has not been systematically studied. Present study aimed to examine the frequency and clinical characteristics of EcS in epilepsy patients, and the potential occurrence of ecstatic...
Epilepsy & BehaviorOctober 9, 2025Robin E McGee, Elizabeth I Ojemakinde, Nancy J Thompson et al.
Depression commonly co-occurs in people with epilepsy (PWE). Reducing depression in PWE may contribute to improved quality of life and outcomes. Project UPLIFT, a distance-delivered, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy program has reduced depressive symptoms among PWE. Little is known about the acceptability of the program among African Americans with epilepsy. Thus, we conducted a formative...
Epilepsy & BehaviorAugust 1, 2025Qing Xue, Gregg H Rawlings, Steven C Schachter et al.1 citation
Subjective experiences of functional/dissociative seizures (FDS) are important for diagnosis and treatment formulation. This study aims to improve the symptomatological understanding of these seizures by analysing written narratives provided by authors with personal FDS experience. Descriptions of FDS were extracted from contributions to the book "In Our Words: Personal Accounts of Living with...
Postictal depression is a common comorbidity in epilepsy, yet effective treatments remain limited. While ketamine is well-known for its antidepressant properties, its role in postictal depression has not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, we utilized a pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus (SE) mouse model and found that depression-like behavior does not appear within a day after SE...
Epilepsy & BehaviorDecember 1, 2024Daniel D Cummins, Zac Schulman, Christina Maher et al.
Mind-wandering is a pervasive human brain state and, when in excess, may promote negative affect and neuropsychiatric conditions. Mindfulness meditation may promote alternate brain states, improving affect and reducing stress. An understanding of the neural basis between these brain states could thus advance treatment of neuropsychiatric conditions, including those associated with epilepsy. To...
Depression and anxiety are prevalent in epilepsy patients, but psychiatric or psychological services may not be accessible to all patients. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of the 20-minute mindful breathing on the psychological well-being of PWE using an instructional video. This was a pilot, assessor-blinded, randomized controlled trial. The intervention group received a guided...
Research on third-wave cognitive behavioral therapies has burgeoned over the last ten years. However, questions remain about the effectiveness of these therapies for people with epilepsy. This article provides an up-to-date review of the current evidence-base. Following protocol registration (PROSPERO CRD42021269882), two reviewers searched six databases (from inception until 1 March 2022) for...
BACKGROUND Mindfulness-based therapies (MBTs) are effective in many neuropsychiatric disorders, and represent a potential therapeutic strategy for psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES). OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical effect of a manualized 12-session MBT for PNES in an uncontrolled trial. We hypothesized reductions in PNES frequency, intensity, and...
Ayahuasca is a botanical hallucinogenic preparation traditionally used for ritual and therapeutic purposes by native populations of the Northwestern Amazon. In the last decades, ayahuasca use has spread to Europe, the United States, Asia, and Africa, and interest in the possible therapeutic uses of ayahuasca for treating anxiety and mood disorder and substance-use disorders has increased both...
Although it is known that epilepsy and spirituality are related, spirituality in epilepsy has received relatively little clinical and scientific attention. Therefore, we investigated which epilepsy-related factors are associated with high spirituality in Korean adults living with epilepsy. This cross-sectional study was conducted in two university hospitals in Korea. Spirituality was assessed...
Religious experiences have long been documented in patients with epilepsy, though their exact underlying neural mechanisms are still unclear. Here, we had the rare opportunity to record a delusional religious conversion in real time in a patient with right temporal lobe epilepsy undergoing continuous video-EEG. In this patient, a messianic revelation experience occurred several hours after a...
Over the last few decades, there has been increasing awareness among epileptologists about the need to refine our understanding and assessment of ictal consciousness, focusing on both subjective and behavioral aspects of seizures. Specifically, there have been suggestions that both the internal and external milieux - the former related to the phenomenal qualia of experience, the latter related...
Exotic experiences such as the sensing of another consciousness or the detachment of consciousness from the body are occasionally reported by individuals with partial seizures from a temporal lobe focus. The experiences display the characteristics of Hughlings Jackson's "parasitic consciousness". We have hypothesized that these experiences are encouraged by slight discrepancies in hemispheric...
From studies of epilepsy, Hughlings-Jackson proposed a model of brain function including levels of consciousness, a hierarchy of nervous centers, and a sensory-motor relationship. Hughlings-Jackson's ideas influenced Wilder Penfield, a pioneer of electrical stimulation for mapping of the human cerebral cortex. From his work with electrocortical stimulation in patients with epilepsy, Penfield...
Positive autoscopic phenomena - autoscopy, heautoscopy and out-of-body experience - may occur in a variety of diseases and also in physiological conditions. They are a rare but probably underreported phenomenon in focal epilepsies. Here, we investigate whether ictal lateralized autoscopic phenomena give lateralizing information about the underlying epileptic focus. We present the cases of seven...
Partial and full own-body illusions of neurological origin have been claimed crucial to understand the contribution of bodily experience and perception to self-consciousness. Whereas partial body illusions are relatively common and well defined, much less is known about full own-body illusions, and even less is known about these illusions in children. Here we describe a 10-year-old patient with...
Epilepsy & BehaviorNovember 2010Nancy J Thompson, Elizabeth Reisinger Walker, Natasha Obolensky et al.
This study evaluated the efficacy of a newly developed, home-based depression intervention for people with epilepsy. Based on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), the eight-session, weekly intervention was designed for group delivery via the Internet or telephone. Forty participants were randomly assigned to intervention or waitlist. Depressive symptoms and other outcomes were measured...
Epileptic seizures have historically been associated with religious beliefs in spirit possession. These attitudes and misconceptions about epilepsy still flourish in developing countries as byproducts of specific sociocultural environments. This article presents a case series of four Haitian patients with epilepsy whose seizures were initially attributed to Voodoo spirit possession. All...
In partial epilepsy, a localized hypersynchronous neuronal discharge evolving into a partial seizure affecting a particular cortical region or cerebral subsystem can give rise to subjective symptoms, which are perceived by the affected person only, that is, ictal hallucinations, illusions, or delusions. When forming the beginning of a symptom sequence leading to impairment of consciousness...