title: Compulsive versifying after treatment of transient epileptic amnesia.
abstract: Compulsive production of verse is an unusual form of hypergraphia that has been reported mainly in patients with right temporal lobe seizures. We present a patient with transient epileptic amnesia and a left temporal seizure focus, who developed isolated compulsive versifying, producing multiple rhyming poems, following seizure cessation induced by lamotrigine. Functional neuroimaging studies in the healthy brain implicate left frontotemporal areas in generating novel verbal output and rhyme, while dysregulation of neocortical and limbic regions occurs in temporal lobe epilepsy. This case complements previous observations of emergence of altered behavior with reduced seizure frequency in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. Such cases suggest that reduced seizure frequency has the potential not only to stabilize or improve memory function, but also to trigger complex, specific behavioral alterations.
authors.affiliation: a Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease , UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London , London , UK.
authors.forename: Ione O C
authors.initials: IO
authors.lastname: Woollacott
authors.forename: Phillip D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Fletcher
authors.forename: Luke A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Massey
authors.forename: Amirtha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pasupathy
authors.forename: Martin N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Rossor
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Caine
authors.forename: Jonathan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Rohrer
authors.forename: Jason D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Warren
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000647:Amnesia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003192:Compulsive Behavior / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology
keywords: dementia; hypergraphia; lamotrigine; poetry; temporal lobe; transient epileptic amnesia; verbal creativity