Synonyms
Geschwind syndrome (or Waxman-Geschwind Syndrome); Interictal personality syndrome; Temporal lobe syndrome
Definition
A distinct behavioral presentation described initially by Stephen Waxman and Norman Geschwind that occurs interictally (i.e., between seizure events) in some patients with complex partial seizures with involvement of the temporal lobes. It presents as personality changes that are concomitant with abnormal EEG activity in limbic regions and is more often associated with individuals with left temporal lobe epilepsy. These changes have been described to include alterations in sexual behavior (usually decreased interest in sexual behavior), increased religiosity (hyper-religiosity and/or hyper-morality), increased verbal output, tendency towards extensive, compulsive writing (i.e., hypergraphia), circumstantial thinking, stickiness or viscosity in thinking and social interactions, and deepened emotionality.
Current Knowledge
This term dates back to earlier times in...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References and Readings
Bear, D. M., & Fedio, P. (1977). Quantitative analysis of interictal behavior in temporal lobe epilepsy. Archives of Neurology, 34(8), 454–467.
Blumer, D. (1999). Evidence supporting the temporal lobe epilepsy personality syndrome. Neurology, 53(Suppl. 2), S9–S12.
Broicher, S. D., Kuchukhidze, G., Grunwald, T., Krämer, G., Kurthen, M., & Jokeit, H. (2012). “Tell me how do I feel” – Emotion recognition and theory of mind in symptomatic mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Neuropsychologia, 50(1), 118–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.11.005. ISSN: 0028-3932.
Devinsky, O., & Najjar, S. (1999). Evidence against the existence of a temporal lobe epilepsy personality syndrome. Neurology, 53(Suppl. 2), S13–S25.
Trimble, M., & Freeman, A. (2006). An investigation of religiosity and the Gastaut-Geschwind syndrome in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. Epilepsy and Behavior, 9(3), 407–414. Epub 2006 Aug 17.
van Elst, L. T., Krishnamoorthy, E. S., Bäumer, D., Selai, C., von Gunten, A., Gene-Cos, N., Ebert, D., & Trimble, M. R. (2003). Psychopathological profile in patients with severe bilateral hippocampal atrophy and temporal lobe epilepsy: Evidence in support of the Geschwind syndrome? Epilepsy and Behavior, 4(3), 291–297.
Waxman, S. G., & Geschwind, N. (1975). The interictal behavior syndrome of temporal lobe epilepsy. Archives of General Psychiatry, 32(12), 1580–1586.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
Kucukboyaci, N.E. (2018). Interictal Behavior Syndrome. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1046
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1046
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-57110-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-57111-9
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences