Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
July 5, 2026
Saranya B Gomathy, Sandhya Sharma, Gautam Sharma et al.
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...
Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
May 2026
Sreya Rahman, Kush Maheshwari, Ana Rivera et al.
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...
Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
February 3, 2026
Kairui Li, Hui Song, Chenxiao Zhao et al.
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 & behavior : E&B
January 22, 2026
Fredrik 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 & behavior : E&B
August 1, 2025
Qing 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...
Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
March 1, 2025
Meiying Zhang, Liting Zheng, Jixing Chen et al.
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 & behavior : E&B
December 1, 2024
Daniel 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...
Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
June 1, 2024
Kheng-Seang Lim, Si-Lei Fong, Xuen Yu et al.
6 citations
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...
Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
November 1, 2017
Sang-Ahm Lee, Myung-Ah Ko, Eun-Ju Choi et al.
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...
Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
July 1, 2012
R Edward Hogan, Edward A English
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...
Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
March 1, 2012
Robert Hoepner, Kirsten Labudda, Matthias Hoppe et al.
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...
Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
March 1, 2011
Lukas Heydrich, Christophe Lopez, Margitta Seeck et al.
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 & behavior : E&B
November 2010
Nancy 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...
Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
September 1, 2010
A E Cavanna, S Cavanna, A Cavanna
42 citations
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...
Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
February 1, 2010
Christophe Lopez, Lukas Heydrich, Margitta Seeck et al.
We describe the case of a 33-year-old man with complex partial seizures characterized by the feeling of being projected outside his body, including dissociation of "mind and self from body" (disembodiment), followed by vestibular vertigo due to right frontal lobe epilepsy caused by an oligodendroglioma. We distinguish the patient's ictal symptoms with respect to autoscopic phenomena...
Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
June 1, 2009
Christian Brandt, Corinna Kramme, Hermann Storm et al.
Out-of-body experience (OBE) and visual and auditory hallucinations can occur in a variety of medical conditions. We describe a 48-year-old male patient who experienced several paroxysmal events with different combinations of the aforementioned symptoms that could finally be attributed to cardiogenic syncope after subcutaneous implantation of an event recorder and that ceased after implantation...
Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
March 2009
Carlo Andrea Galimberti, Maria Ossola, Silvia Colnaghi et al.
Sleep paralysis (SP) is a common parasomnia. The diagnostic criteria for SP, as reported in the International Classification of Sleep Disorders, are essentially clinical, as electroencephalography (EEG)-polysomnography (PSG) is not mandatory. We describe a subject whose sleep-related events fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for SP, even though her visual hallucinations were elementary,...
Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
August 1, 2008
Mirja Johanson, Katja Valli, Antti Revonsuo et al.
19 citations
Epilepsy research suffers from a deficiency of systematic studies concerning the phenomenology of the contents of consciousness during seizures, partially because of the lack of suitable research methods. The Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI), a standardized, valid, and reliable questionnaire, was used here to study which dimensions of the contents of consciousness are distorted...
Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
May 1, 2008
Orrin Devinsky, George Lai
Revered in some cultures but persecuted by most others, epilepsy patients have, throughout history, been linked with the divine, demonic, and supernatural. Clinical observations during the past 150 years support an association between religious experiences during (ictal), after (postictal), and in between (interictal) seizures. In addition, epileptic seizures may increase, alter, or decrease...
Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
November 1, 2006
Ephraim Philip Lansky, Erik K St Louis
Transcendental Meditation (TM) is derived from ancient yogic teachings. Both short- and long-term physiological correlates of TM practice have been studied. EEG effects include increased alpha, theta, and gamma frequencies and increased coherence and synchrony. Neuronal hypersynchrony is also a cardinal feature of epilepsy, and subjective psychic symptoms, apnea, and myoclonic jerking are...