Religion and epilepsy.

A study of 57 consecutive patients with epilepsy who were attending a neurological epilepsy clinic at a general hospital, was carried out. A preliminary analysis of the data revealed that 33% had at some time been treated for a psychological disorder, 51% had 'normal' and 60% 'abnormal' interests in religion and related belief systems. Fifty-one percent had undergone a significant change in their interest in these matters in the past (religious conversion). A significant association was found between the 'abnormal' group and psychopathology, and religious conversion. These associations were not found with the 'normal' group.

The neuropsychology of paramedian thalamic infarction.

A longitudinal study of three patients with CT-scan documented paramedian thalamic infarctions (bilateral, primarily right, unilateral left) is reported and the neuropsychology of human paramedian thalamic infarction is reviewed. The neuropsychological deficits following these selected lesions, the nature of the clinical memory disorder, and the neuroanatomy of memory are discussed. The significance of cortical/subcortical relationship in explaining observed behavioral changes is emphasized. Brain damage with maximum involvement in the dorsomedial nuclei and mamillothalamic tracts appears to cause primarily a memory disorder and frontal-limbic behavioral changes, the severity and profile of deficits depending on lesion extent and location. Both anterograde and remote memory loss may be present. Asymmetry in memory at the level of the thalamus was observed, following the left-verbal, right-nonverbal dichotomy.

The syndrome of bilateral paramedian thalamic infarction.

Bilateral anterior paramedian thalamic infarction resulting from occlusion of a bilaterally distributed thalamosubthalamic paramedian artery was demonstrated on CT in two patients. Patient 1 presented with a transient coma followed by asterixis, hypersomnia, vertical gaze disturbances, profound Korsakoff amnesic syndrome, and a subcortical dementia. Patient 2, with a predominantly right-sided thalamic infarct, showed good recovery from amnesia and vertical gaze disturbances. However, patient 1 remained with severe amnesia and mild subcortical dementia at follow-up 1 year later. These and similar reported cases constitute a lacunar syndrome with characteristic clinical and CT features.

Psychogenic pseudoseizures in non-epileptic patients.

Twelve non-epileptic patients with psychogenic "convulsive" pseudoseizures were studied to delineate useful diagnostic criteria. Six patients had severe psychological disturbances, a long pseudoseizure history and a poor prognosis, while the other six showed little psychopathology, had undergone a recent emotional trauma to account for their pseudoseizures and had a relatively good prognosis. The characteristics of a typical attack precipitated by suggestion, the ictal or post-ictal EEG and the overall patient profile allowed a definite diagnosis in each case.

Response of generalized penicillin epilepsy in the cat to ethosuximide and diphenylhydantoin.

The effects of ethosuximide and diphenylhydantoin sodium on feline generalized penicillin epilepsy, a model of human generalized corticoreticular (centreccephalic) epilepsy, were significantly reduced following administration of ethosuximide with plasma levels of 60 mug per milliliter, and there was a linear correlation between the plasma level and antiephilepileptic effect (p less than 0.01). Diphenylhydantoin produced a lesser reduction in epileptic activity, and there was no correlation between the plasma level and effect. Four cats that received both drugs successively responded well to ethosuximide, while only two responded to diphenylhdantoin. The good response to ethosuximide is in accord with clinical experience in human generalized corticoreticular epilepsy.