User:Connor Beveridge/Ecstatic Seizure

Ecstatic Seizures. also called Dostoyevsky's Epilepsy, are a type of seizure activity that is characterized by feelings of ecstasy or transcendent joy. mystical, spiritual, and hallucinatory experiences often occur as well. The temporal lobe is effected by the seizure activity and provides a neural basis for these experiences. Ecstatic seizures may be felt as epiphanies or revelations of a deeper reality. Ecstatic Seizures are also called Dostoyevsky's Epilepsy due to the fact that Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, a famous Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and philosopher, reported this type of seizure and also made characters in his novels that had a similar condition and experiences as him.

Causes and Treatments

People with ecstatic seizures often have a problem with participating in their treatment and also with self-inducing their own pleasurable seizures. They simply want to induce the seizures much as a drug addict wants to continue using drugs even though the harm may be great. Ecstatic seizures have been found to occur with partial seizures as well as grand-Mal seizures. If patients comply with treatment, which is normally drug treatment, it is common to find patients having a significant reduction in symptoms.

Dostoyevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky first created the concept of ecstatic seizures with his own descriptions of seizures he was having, and ecstatic epilepsy is frequently referred to as Dostoevsky's epilepsy. As late as 1978, Dostoevsky's epilepsy existence was rejected due to its rarity. It was believed that Dostoevsky's creativity led him to embellish his accounts on his seizures. He described his seizures as having an enhanced well being and awareness, as well as a feeling of, "perfect harmony with himself and the entire universe". He also describes a sense of time dilation, even saying he could not tell if his seizure has been lasting for months.

Neural Substrates

Ecstatic seizures have been found to occur due to localized abnormalities, as well as well as epileptiform activity. Common localizations occur in the temporal lobe, and are generally due to partial seizures. Generalized seizures normally include a lack of consciousness so ecstatic seizures are rarely reported.

Relation to Research on the Nature of Self-awareness

Important Cases of ecstatic epilepsy include those which exhibit intense feelings of self-awareness. Recent research has attempted to label the Anterior Insular Cortex (AIC) as the "neural correlate of consciousness", and research on brain activity of ecstatic epileptic patients has supported this theory. Ecstatic seizures have been found to show abnormal activity in anterior temporopolar regions, of which the AIC is physically hidden behind. Symptomatolgy and functional characteristics of the AIC suggest that AIC dysfunction could be the cause of ecstatic seizures.