Epilepsy & Behavior
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
November 20, 2009
Harinder Jaseja
Meditation is a mental exercise practiced widely as an antistress measure and in the belief that it possesses remedial efficacy for a number of medical ailments, especially neurological disorders. Further, there is a general belief that meditation is an absolutely safe practice devoid of any harmful effects. However, with the advent of neuroimaging techniques, the possibility of adverse effects...
Epilepsy & Behavior
November 1, 2009
F. Picard, A. Craig
The anatomical correlate of epileptic seizures with ecstatic auras has not been established. We document precise descriptions of the ecstatic seizures experienced by five patients, all of whom reported intense feelings of well-being and a heightened self-awareness. We propose here that the descriptions by these patients, together with the neurophysiological and neuroradiological evidence,...
Epilepsy & Behavior
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
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
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
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
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...
Epilepsy & Behavior
September 2005
Francesco Monaco, Marco Mula, Andrea E. Cavanna
The last decade has seen a renaissance of consciousness studies, witnessed by the growing number of scientific investigations on this topic. The concept of consciousness is central in epileptology, despite the methodological difficulties concerning its application to the multifaced ictal phenomenology. The authors provide an up-to-date review of the neurological literature on the relationship...