Abstract
There has been a long and controversial history concerning the relationship between epilepsy, and specific epilepsy syndromes, and the presence and characteristics of diverse personality and behavioral changes. Here we focus on several distinct traits that have been included in this area of research including obsessiveness, viscosity, hypergraphia, and verbosity. Aspects of this interesting history are reviewed, the development and elaboration of theories concerning these personality and behavioral traits and epilepsy are discussed, and segments of the empirical research that has been conducted in the field are examined. The presence, rate, and correlates of these target behaviors (e.g., hypergraphia, viscosity) vary as a function of important details of the research methodology (e.g., mode of assessment, operational definition of behavior). The clinical significance and underlying neurobiology of these characteristics remain to be determined.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Gibbs FA. Ictal and non-ictal psychiatric disorders in temporal lobe epilepsy. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1951;113(6):522–8.
Guerrant J, Anderson WW, Fischer A, Weinstein MR, Jaros M, Deskins A. Personality in epilepsy. Springfield: Charles C Thomas Publisher; 1962.
Waxman SG, Geschwind N. Hypergraphia in temporal lobe epilepsy. Neurology. 1974;24(7):629–36.
Waxman SG, Geschwind N. The interictal behavior syndrome of temporal lobe epilepsy. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1975;32(12):1580–6.
Bear DM, Fedio P. Quantitative analysis of interictal behavior in temporal lobe epilepsy. Arch Neurol. 1977;34(8):454–67.
Devinsky O, Najjar S. Evidence against the existence of a temporal lobe epilepsy personality syndrome. Neurology. 1999;53(5 Suppl 2):S13–25.
Mungas D. Interictal behavior abnormality in temporal lobe epilepsy. A specific syndrome or nonspecific psychopathology? Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1982;39(1):108–11.
Blumer D. Personality in epilepsy. Semin Neurol. 1991;11(2):155–66.
Rao SM, Devinsky O, Grafman J, Stein M, Usman M, Uhde TW, et al. Viscosity and social cohesion in temporal lobe epilepsy. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1992;55(2):149–52.
Green B. Problem-based psychiatry. 2nd ed. United Kingdom: Radcliffe Publishing Ltd; 2009.
Kraepelin E. Psychiatrie. Ein kurzes Lehrbuch für Studirende und Aerzte. Dritte, vielfach umgearbeitete Auflage. Leipzig: Abel Verlag; 1899.
Sachdev HS, Waxman SG. Frequency of hypergraphia in temporal lobe epilepsy: an index of interictal behaviour syndrome. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1981;44(4):358–60.
Hermann BP, Whitman S, Arntson P. Hypergraphia in epilepsy: is there a specificity to temporal lobe epilepsy? J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1983;46(9):848–53.
Hermann BP, Whitman S, Wyler AR, Richey ET, Dell J. The neurological, psychosocial and demographic correlates of hypergraphia in patients with epilepsy. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1988;51(2):203–8.
Hoeppner JB, Garron DC, Wilson RS, Koch-Weser MP. Epilepsy and verbosity. Epilepsia. 1987;28(1):35–40.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Guenter Kraemer, MD, for providing the quote by Kraepelin and Susanne Seeger, MD, for translation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hermann, B. (2016). Obsessiveness and Viscosity. In: Mula, M. (eds) Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of Epilepsy. Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of Neurological Disease. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22159-5_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22159-5_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-22158-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-22159-5
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)