Identity shifts in temporal lobe epilepsy

Hersh, Joshua; Chan, Yiu-Chung; Smeltzer, Donald J.

doi:10.1016/s0163-8343(02)00173-1

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Recent studies Ito et al, 1993) have found frequent and unusual EEG abnormalities in victims of child abuse and also several imaging studies describe hippocampal abnormalities in trauma patients (Bremner et al, 1995;Putnam, 1997). There were also described connection of EEG abnormalities with dissociative symptomes, several dissociative syndromes including the patients with multiple personality, where epileptic activity during personality alterations was reported and also identity shift observed in temporal lobe epilepsy (Schenk & Bear, 1981;Mesulam, 1981;Coons, Milstein, & Marley, 1982;Benson, Miller, & Signer, 1986;Spiegel, 1991;Hersch, Yiu-Chung, & Smeltzer, 2002). Dissociative states are also present during the so-called altered states of consciousness such as possession, out of body experiences, near death experiences (Putnam, 1989) or mystical experiences which characteristically lead to changes in perception and identity.…”

Section: Dissociation and Epileptiform Dischargesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dissociation, Epileptiform Discharges and Chaos in the Brain: Toward a Neuroscientific Theory of Dissociation

Bob

2012

Act Nerv Super

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Dissociated states represent pathological conditions when psychological trauma may emerge in a variety of forms such as psychic dissociative symptoms or, on the contrary, as paroxysms or other somatoform symptoms. There is evidence that epileptic activity plays an important role in the generation of dissociative states and it is able to generate various psychopathological processes as well as a wide spectrum of somatic symptoms or seizures. For the explanation of these connections between dissociative states and epileptic discharges the author proposes a neuroscientific model of dissociation based on the theory of competitive neural assemblies which can lead to chaotic self-organization in brain neural networks. This model is suggested as an integrative view interconnecting the various psychopathological and somatoform manifestations of dissociative states and suggests further possibilities for future research regarding common pathogenic mechanisms among epilepsy and mental disorders.

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Section: Dissociation and Epileptiform Dischargesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dissociation, Epileptiform Discharges and Chaos in the Brain: Toward a Neuroscientific Theory of Dissociation

Bob

2012

Act Nerv Super

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“…On the other hand, previous studies also showed that patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) experience several dissociative symptoms such as out of body experiences, near death experiences, depersonalization and fugue 6,7,22,23,24 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Connections of EEG abnormalities with several dissociative syndromes including dissociative identity symptoms have been described 22,24 . Temporal lobe epileptiform discharges and the limbic structures which are essential regions for generation of complex partial seizures can lead to these symptoms 3,21,22 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dissociative experiences in patients with epilepsy

Özdemir

Çilingir

Özdemir

et al. 2016

Arq. Neuro-Psiquiatr.

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Dissociative disorders are characterized by a disruption of and/or discontinuity in the normal integration of consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, perception, body representation, motor control, and behavior 1 . Dissociative experiences occur on a continuum ranging from the minor or normative dissociative states such as absorbtion or daydreaming customary to daily life to pathological states such as dissociative identity disorder 2 . The prevalence rates has varied from a low of 1.0% to a high of 12.8% depending on the cut-off point indicative of pathological dissociative symptomatology 3,4 . The Dissociative Experience Scale (DES) is the most widely used standard screening tool utilized for assessing dissociative symptoms 3,4,5 .The strong linkages of dissociation to childhood emotional, physical or sexual trauma have long been recognized. Dissociation is considered to serve as a defense mechanism againts intolerable, trauma-associated memories and feelings 4 . Despite dissociative disorders are conceptualized in a separate spectrum, pathological dissociation has been demonstrated to be higly co-occurring condition with mental disorders including posttraumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorders, anxiety and mood disorders, and substance use disorder 4 . Dissociative experiences can also be observed in different types of brain pathology such as epilepsy, head injuiry, tumor, encephalitis and intoxication 6,7 . AbstrACtA few studies have explored dissociative experiences in epilepsy patients. We investigated dissociative experiences in patients with epilepsy using the dissociative experiences scale (DES). Ninety-eight patients with epilepsy and sixty healthy controls were enrolled in this study. A sociodemographic questionnaire and the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) were administered to the participants. The DES scores were significantly higher for the patients with epilepsy than the healthy individuals. The number of individuals with pathological dissociation (DES ≥ 30) was higher in the epilepsy group (n = 28) than in the control group (n = 8). Also, higher levels of dissociation were significantly associated with frequency of seizures, but were not associated with duration of epilepsy and age at onset of the disorder. These findings demonstrate that patients with epilepsy are more prone to dissociation than controls. The high rate of dissociative experiences among patients with epilepsy suggest that some epilepsy-related factors are present.Keywords: dissociative experiences, epilepsy. Palavras-chave: experiências dissociativas, epilepsia.

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“…Perhaps most strikingly, there have been numerous case series and reports connecting organic temporal lobe pathology (particularly TLE) to identity alteration identical to that seen in DID. [31][32][33] It is notable that these case series include both experiences of multiple personalities and experiences of supernatural possession, both of which are known forms of identity alteration in DID. 1 For example, in one case series of 40 patients with electroencephalogram (EEG)-verified TLE, 13 patients reported experiences of multiple personalities and/or possession, including several cases of syndromal multiple personality disorder.…”

Section: Dissociative Symptoms In Tlementioning

confidence: 99%

Psychotic-Like Symptoms and the Temporal Lobe in Trauma-Related Disorders: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Assessment of Potential Malingering

2018

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Objective: To overview the phenomenology, etiology, assessment, and treatment of psychotic-like symptoms in traumarelated disorders focusing on the proposed role of temporal lobe dysfunction. Method: We describe the literature pertaining to (i) psychotic-like symptoms and temporal lobe dysfunction in traumarelated disorders and (ii) psychological testing profiles in trauma-related disorders. We define trauma-related disorders as borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and the dissociative disorders. Our search terms were dissociative disorders, temporal lobe, trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder, psychosis, and malingering. Results: Trauma-related psychotic-like symptoms are common and can differ in phenomenology from primary psychotic symptoms. Hallucinations consist of auditory and nonauditory content that may or may not relate to traumatic content. Child voices are highly suggestive of complex dissociative disorders. Critically, not only do these symptoms resemble those seen in temporal lobe epilepsy, but the temporal lobe is implicated in trauma-related disorders, thus providing a plausible neurobiological explanation. Despite such evidence, these symptoms are frequently considered atypical and misdiagnosed. Indeed, common structured psychological assessment tools categorize these symptoms as possible indicators of invalid testing profiles. Conclusion: Psychotic-like symptoms are common in trauma-related disorders, may be related to temporal lobe dysfunction, and are frequently misinterpreted. This may lead to ineffective treatment and inappropriate determinations of malingering in the forensic system.

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Identity shifts in temporal lobe epilepsy

Cited by 8 publications

References 6 publications

Dissociation, Epileptiform Discharges and Chaos in the Brain: Toward a Neuroscientific Theory of Dissociation

Dissociation, Epileptiform Discharges and Chaos in the Brain: Toward a Neuroscientific Theory of Dissociation

Dissociative experiences in patients with epilepsy

Psychotic-Like Symptoms and the Temporal Lobe in Trauma-Related Disorders: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Assessment of Potential Malingering

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