Fast learning and TLE epilepsy?

[Endless]

Many do say lewis carrol suffered from other conditions, but many others say it was epilepsy:
http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/famous_writers
http://www.epilepsyontario.org/client/EO/EOWeb.nsf/web/Alice+in+Wonderland+Syndrome
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Carroll

At Oxford he was also diagnosed as an epileptic, then a considerable social stigma to bear. However, recently John R. Hughes, director of the University of Illinois at Chicago's epilepsy clinic, has argued that Carroll may have been misdiagnosed.

http://www.sminkworks.com/authors/lewis_carroll.htm
And the list of references goes on and on...

"Starry Night" by Van Gogh has been said to have been not an impressionist painting per se, but a realistic portrayal of the world her really saw - through postictal blurry vision and hallucinations. He had severe hypergraphia as well, both expressed through writing letters and through an extremely prolific body of artwork. He had been diagnosed by some with epilepsy during his lifetime, and got well when treated with potassium bromide, which is a huge clue. It is used today to treat dogs with epilepsy.

Though the first reference given here I believe is wrong - I don't think they were all complex partial seizures, some were TC, some simple partial: http://www.charge.org.uk/htmlsite/van _gogh.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh's_health
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11925286
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article687923.ece
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/159/4/519

Edgar Allan Poe was not diagnosed with seizures during his lifetime, but has been in modern times. He also had hypergraphia:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10369317
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200705/quirky-minds-hypergraphia-river-words

This is interesting, but what I think it emphasizes hypergraphia too much, and de-emphasizes how much hallucinations, altered states of consciousness, and the psychic ability that often goes with temporal lobe epilepsy can spur truly original thinking: Why Are There So Many Great Writers With Epilepsy?Go down to the bottom of the page and click "next" to get to the next page.

 

[fluffance]

WOW, I only just read something yesterday that Lewis Carroll was believed to have had Epilepsy and that maybe "Alice in Wonderland" was based on his experiences.......... I tell you what, there are a few things I can relate to in that book

 

[KelVarQ]

Wow!

Thank you because I thought it was just me! I talked to my neuro once about this and asked him if I was causing my own seizures with my own brain racing and he stated, "No, it's your brain causing your mind to race". I have RTL epilepsy and yes I get those moments of super brain and most of my friends and family say, "You're so deep, but I love listening to you." However, I can't really connect with others as they say they can understand what I mean but they just can't go there or would never think these things up and wonder how the heck I come up with some thoughts. Most of my thoughts are deep and sometimes spiritual / philosophical ideas about life and my thoughts on it and I have no clue where it comes from as I was not brought up with a strong religious background. Ironically my seizures didn't start until I was 27 and around the age of 30 when they were getting bad I was in college and suddenly I took an interest in religion and starting taking religious classes and even read the bible. Years later after some research I learned about "God on the Brain" in the temp lobe and what do you know, made sense as to why I suddenly took an interest in religion. NO, I don't subscribe to organized religion and it's the RTL epilepsy that has made me curious about God, Life, meaning, etc. and some of the things that I come up with blows my own mind! How do I know certain things? NO, nothing crazy where I would be considered nuts but as a child (no seizures) I was a fairly surfaced person and now I'm just too deep and BORED with the norm. I seek truth and meaning all the time and it's tiresome but I seem to REQUIRE mental stimulation. Yes, I believe in God so I'm not 100% about God on the Brain but there's definitely something to say for it.

 

[Rag]

Thanks for the links, Endless, there's some really interesting stuff in there. I've read one or two of them before, I think, but the majority are unfamiliar. I might get into analytical mode and have something to say about them later on, perhaps.

I have RTL epilepsy and yes I get those moments of super brain and most of my friends and family say, "You're so deep, but I love listening to you."

:roflmao: This comment really did crack me up. I've had pretty much exactly the same thing said to me numerous times. Usually this is from the so after I stop chattering on about whatever I was chattering on about and ask, with sudden realisation, "Ummm, hold on, am I actually making ANY sense here whatsoever?".

However, I can't really connect with others as they say they can understand what I mean but they just can't go there or would never think these things up and wonder how the heck I come up with some thoughts. Most of my thoughts are deep and sometimes spiritual / philosophical ideas about life and my thoughts on it and I have no clue where it comes from as I was not brought up with a strong religious background. Ironically my seizures didn't start until I was 27 and around the age of 30 when they were getting bad I was in college and suddenly I took an interest in religion and starting taking religious classes and even read the bible. Years later after some research I learned about "God on the Brain" in the temp lobe and what do you know, made sense as to why I suddenly took an interest in religion. NO, I don't subscribe to organized religion and it's the RTL epilepsy that has made me curious about God, Life, meaning, etc. and some of the things that I come up with blows my own mind! How do I know certain things? NO, nothing crazy where I would be considered nuts but as a child (no seizures) I was a fairly surfaced person and now I'm just too deep and BORED with the norm. I seek truth and meaning all the time and it's tiresome but I seem to REQUIRE mental stimulation. Yes, I believe in God so I'm not 100% about God on the Brain but there's definitely something to say for it.

Just thought I'd say, and without going into detail right now, that quite a lot of this resonates with me and seems very familiar, allowing for specific circumstances being a little different.