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Ictal autoscopic phenomena and near death experiences: a study of five patients with ictal autoscopies

Journal of Neurology volume 260, pages 742–749 (2013)Cite this article

Abstract

Autoscopic phenomena in general may—among other conditions—occur during epileptic seizures and near death experiences. We set the hypothesis that ictal autoscopic phenomena and near death experiences have a similar semiology as measured by the Near Death Experience Questionnaire. We also investigated whether patients with aura before temporal lobe seizures with or without autoscopic phenomena could be distinguished by this questionnaire. For these purposes, we examined five patients with ictal autoscopy and 12 patients with aura before temporal lobe seizures without ictal autoscopy as controls. We used a cut-off of 7 points or higher on the Near Death Experience Questionnaire for indicating the semiology of a near death experience and for distinguishing patients with ictal autoscopy from controls. This cut-off separated patients with ictal autoscopic phenomena from aura before temporal lobe seizures without autoscopy (p = 0.0002, two-sided, exact Fisher’s Test; specificity: 100 % [CI95 % 77.9 and 100 %], sensitivity: 100 % [CI95 % 54.9 and 100 %]). Furthermore, all autoscopic patients (range 7–10) and none of the controls (range 0–5) had scores of 7 points or higher. Thus, the individual experiences during simple partial autoscopic seizures and near death experiences are similar, at least in some prominent aspects. These findings might be of particular interest for the pathophysiology of near death experiences, as all patients with ictal autoscopic phenomena had an epileptic dysfunction at the temporo-parietal junction or its neighboring regions. Therefore, a malfunction of this brain region might also be involved in near death experiences of other origins especially during states which could cause a near death experience and a cerebral excitability.

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Acknowledgments

The authors have not received any financial donation.

Conflicts of interest

C. Brandt served on scientific advisory boards for UCB and Pfizer, received funding for trips from UCB and Pfizer, received honoraria from serving on steering committees for Pfizer and Desitin and for being a speaker for Pfizer, Desitin, Eisai, UCB and GSK, and received research support from Pfizer. C. Brandt, R. Hoepner, K. Labudda, TW May, M. Schoendienst, and FG Woermann report no financial disclosure. CG Bien received honoraria for educational courses and participation in advisory boards from Eisai, Desitin, UCB and GlaxoSmithKline.

Ethical standard

The authors declare that the study was approved by the Independent Ethics Committee of the University of Bielefeld and is in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All patients gave written informed consent prior to study participation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bethel Epilepsy Centre, Mara Hospital, Maraweg 17-21, 33617, Bielefeld, Germany

    Robert Hoepner, Martin Schoendienst, Friedrich G. Woermann, Christian G. Bien & Christian Brandt

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany

    Kirsten Labudda

  3. Society for Epilepsy Research, Bielefeld, Germany

    Kirsten Labudda & Theodor W. May

Authors
  1. Robert Hoepner
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  2. Kirsten Labudda
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  3. Theodor W. May
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  4. Martin Schoendienst
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  5. Friedrich G. Woermann
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  6. Christian G. Bien
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  7. Christian Brandt
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Correspondence to Christian Brandt.

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Hoepner, R., Labudda, K., May, T.W. et al. Ictal autoscopic phenomena and near death experiences: a study of five patients with ictal autoscopies. J Neurol 260, 742–749 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-012-6689-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-012-6689-x

Keywords

  • Autoscopic phenomena
  • Near death experience
  • Out-of-body experience
  • Temporo-parietal junction
  • Epilepsy