[Astral and out-of-body voyages. Heautoscopy, ecstasis and experimental hallucinations of epileptic origin].
We report a 38 year-old patient who had temporoparietal epilepsy and unusual ictal "out of body" experiences that remained undiagnosed for more than ten years, until her admission for a motor seizure of the left hemibody. Out of body episodes were experienced as intense and ecstatic astral journeys. EEG showed a bilateral extension of epileptiform abnormalities to the parietal regions, predominantly on the right side. We discuss the various forms of heautoscopy and their putative mechanisms. We suggest that a disturbance in representing space in independent extrapersonal and personal coordinates might be as crucial as the elusive hypothesis of a body schema disorder. Combined involvement of the parietal neocortex and temporolimbic structures might allow those experiences to gain a subjective vividness which appears to be indissociable from normal conscious experiences.
Vuilleumier
P
P
Service de Neurologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Suisse.
Despland
P A
PA
Assal
G
G
Regli
F
F
D000328:Adult; D001255:Astrology; D001828:Body Image; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions / Q000209:etiology; D008032:Limbic System; D019222:Mind-Body Relations, Metaphysical; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010296:Parietal Lobe