Epilepsy – a disease of geniuses?
https://doi.org/10.17749/2077-8333/epi.par.con.2023.145
Abstract
For a long time, people suffering from epilepsy have been feared, suspected, and misunderstood, socially stigmatized and viewed as outcasts. On the other hand, epilepsy was attributed to many remarkable personalities, among whom are Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Socrates, Aristotle, Joan of Arc, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Ivan the Terrible, Newton, Peter the Great, Napoleon, Walter Scott, Paganini, Byron, Van Gogh, Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, and many others. The article is aimed to confirm on historical facts or debunk the myths about the essence of epilepsy in some of these individuals.
About the Authors
A. Yu. UlitinRussian Federation
Alexey Yu. Ulitin – Dr. Med. Sc., Professor, Chief of Chair of Neurosurgery; Professor, Polenov Chair of Neurosurgery
2 Akkuratov Str., Saint Petersburg 197341
41 Kirochnaya Str., Saint-Petersburg 191015
A. V. Vasilenko
Russian Federation
Anna V. Vasilenko – Head Tutor, Associate Professor, Chair of Neurosurgery with a Course in Neurophysiology; Associate Professor, Davidenkov Chair of Neurology
Scopus Author ID: 35773656400
2 Akkuratov Str., Saint Petersburg 197341
6 Academician Lebedev Str., Saint Petersburg 194044
I. A. Sokolov
Russian Federation
Ivan A. Sokolov – Neurosurgeon, Postgraduate, Chair of Neurosurgery
2 Akkuratov Str., Saint Petersburg 197341
M. A. Bulaeva
Russian Federation
Maria A. Bulaeva – Neurosurgeon, Postgraduate, Chair of Neurosurgery
2 Akkuratov Str., Saint Petersburg 197341
S. S. Kolosov
Russian Federation
Sergey S. Kolosov – Resident Physician, Chair of Neurosurgery
2 Akkuratov Str., Saint Petersburg 197341
S. A. Turanov
Russian Federation
Semen A. Turanov – Resident Physician, Chair of Neurosurgery
2 Akkuratov Str., Saint Petersburg 197341, Russia
G. A. Ulitin
Russian Federation
Georgiy A. Ulitin – 4th-year Student
6 Academician Lebedev Str., Saint Petersburg 194044
A. A. Vinogradova
Russian Federation
Arina A. Vinogradova – 4th-year Student
7-9 Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya, Saint Petersburg 199034
References
1. Kovalevskiy P.I. Psychiatric sketches from history. Мoscow: Terra; 1995 (in Russ.).
2. Adams F. Hippocrates: on the sacred disease. The genuine works of Hippocrates (from 1946 reprint of 1849 original). Huntington, N.Y.: Robert E. Krueger Publishing Co.; 1972.
3. Baloyannis S.J. The neurosciences in the Hellenistic Alexandria: an harmonization of philosophy and medicine. In: Sina K., Jha D. (Eds.). Some aspects of history of neurosciences. Ranchi, India: East Zome Neuro CME; 2004: 85–110.
4. Baker G.P. Hannibal. New York: Dodd, Mead; 1929.
5. Barnes J. The complete works of Aristotle. Princeton, N.Y.: Princeton University Press; 1956.
6. Bates A. The drama: its history, literature, and influence on civilization. London: Historical Publ.; 1906.
7. Bowen M. William Prince of Orange. New York: Dodd, Mead; 1928.
8. Cranston M. Jean-Jacques: the early life and work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. New York: Norton; 1982.
9. Demorest R. William Pitt, first Earl of Chatham. Carnegie Magazine. Pittsburgh, PA; 1950.
10. Engel J.P.T.A. Jr. Epilepsy, a comprehensive textbook. Philadelphia: Lippincott–Raven; 1998.
11. Fazel S., Vassos E., Danesh J. Prevalence of epilepsy in prisoners: systematic review. BMJ. 2002; 324 (7352): 1495. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.324.7352.1495.
12. Hart I.B. The world of Leonardo da Vinci. New York: Viking Press; 1962.
13. Holmes R. Shelley. New York: Dutton; 1975.
14. Lerner V., Finkelstein Y., Witztum E. The enigma of Lenin’s (1870–1924) malady. Eur J Neurol. 2004; 11 (6): 371–6. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-1331.2004.00839.x.
15. Levenger E.E. Leonardo da Vinci. New York: Julian Messner; 1954.
16. Muramoto O., Englert W.G. Socrates and temporal lobe epilepsy: a pathographical diagnosis 2400 years later. Epilepsia. 2006; 47 (6): 652–4. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1167.2006.00481.x.
17. Paciaroni M., Bogousslavsky J. William Shakespeare’s neurology. In: Finger S., Boller F., Stiles A. (Eds.) Literature, neurology, and neuroscience: neurological and psychiatric disorders. Elsevier; 2013: 252.
18. Taaffe T.G. Alfred the Great (trans. by Bremberg V). New York: Catholic Encyclopedia; 1907.
19. Temkin O. The falling sickness. Baltimore: John Hopkins Press; 1971.
20. Wolf P. Epilepsy and catalepsy in Anglo-American literature between Romanticism and Realism: Tennyson, Poe, Eliot and Collins. J Hist Neurosci. 2000; 9 (3): 286–93. https://doi.org/10.1076/0964-704x(200012)9:3;1-#;ft286.
21. Herodotus. The histories. Oxford: Oxford World Classics, Oxford University Press; 1998.
22. Engel J. Jr. Seizures and epilepsy. Philadelphia: FA Davis; 1989.
23. Larner A.J. “Neurological literature”: epilepsy. Adv Clin Neurosci Rehabil. 2007; 7 (3): 16.
24. Dewhurst K., Beard A.W. Sudden religious conversions in temporal lobe epilepsy. Br J Psychiatry. 1970; 117 (540): 497–507. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.117.540.497.
25. Livingston S. Epilepsy and murder. JAMA. 1964; 188 (2): 172. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1964.03060280074015.
26. Betts T., Betts H. A note on a phrase in Shakespeare’s play King Lear: “a plague upon your epileptic visage”. Seizure. 1998; 7 (5): 407–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1059-1311(05)80011-1.
27. Ramachandran V.S. The perception of fantom limbs. The D.O. Hebb lecture. Brain. 1998; 121 (Pt. 9): 1603–30. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/121.9.1603.
28. Schwabe M., Reuber M., Schöndienst M., Gülich E. Listening to people with seizures: how can linguistic analysis help in the differential diagnosis of seizure disorders? Commun Med. 2008; 5 (1): 59–72. https://doi.org/10.1558/cam.v5i1.59.
29. Stirling J. Representing epilepsy: myth and matter. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press; 2010: 131–77.
30. Wolf P. Epilepsy in contemporary fiction: fates of patients. Can J Neurol Sci. 2000; 27 (2): 166–72.
31. Wolf P. Sociocultural history of epilepsy. In: Panayiotopoulos C.P. (Ed.) Atlas of epilepsies (part 2). London: Springer; 2010: 35–43.
32. Lascaratos J. The wounding of Alexander the Great in Cyropolis (329 BC): the first reported case of the syndrome of transient cortical blindness? Surv Ophthalmol. 1997; 42 (3): 283–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0039-6257(97)00092-1.
33. Liappas J.A., Lascaratos J., Fafouti S., Christodoulou G.N. Alexander the Great’s relationship with alcohol. Addiction. 2003; 98 (5): 561–7. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1360-0443.2003.00384.x.
34. Peterson M.D. James Madison. New York: Newsweek; 1974.
35. Cawthorne T. Julius Cæsar and the falling sickness. Proc R Soc Med. 1958; 51 (1): 27–30.
36. Goodwin W.W. Plutarch: Plutarch’s miscellaneous and essays. Comprising all his works collected under the title of “Morals”. Vol. III. Boston: Little Brown & Co; 1898.
37. Hughes J.R. Dictator Perpetuus: Julius Caesar – did he have seizures? If so, what was the etiology? Epilepsy Behav. 2004; 5 (5): 756–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2004.05.006.
38. Alajouanine T. Dostoievsky’s epilepsy. Brain. 1963; 86 (2): 209–18.
39. Gomez J.G., Kotler J.A., Long J.B. Was Julius Caesar’s epilepsy due to a brain tumor? J Fla Med Assoc. 1995; 82 (3): 199–201.
40. Woods M. Was the apostle Paul an epileptic? /New York: Cosmopolitan Press; 1913.
41. Rezvan E.A. The Koran and its world. Saint Petersburg; 2001: 127 pp. (in Russ.).
42. Rosental T.K. Dostoevsky's suffering and creativity. Issues of Studying and Educating Personality. 1920; 1 (in Russ.).
43. Ulitin A.Yu., Odintsova G.V., Nezdorovina V.G., Malyshev S.M. Dostoevsky’s epilepsy. Russian Journal of Neurosurgery. 2021; 23 (3): 113–21 (in Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17650/1683-3295-2021-23-3-113-121.
44. Yanovskiy S.D. Memories of Dostoevsky. Russkiy vestnik / Russian Bulletin. 1885; 176 (in Russ.).
45. Ackroyd P. Dickens, public life and private passion. London: Hydra; 2002.
46. Arenberg I.K. Countryman L.F., Bernstein L.H., Shambaugh G.E. Jr. Van Gogh had Menière's disease and not epilepsy. JAMA. 1990; 264 (4): 491–3.
47. Pernoud R. Joan of Arc. New York: Penguin Books; 1969.
48. Murray T.D. (Ed.) Jeanne D’Arc. Maid of Orleans. London: William Heinemann; 1907: 1429–31.
49. Woods M. In spite of epilepsy: being a review of the lives of three great epileptics – Julius Caesar, Mohammed, Lord Byron – the founders respectively of an empire, a religion, and a school of poetry . New York: Cosmopolitan Press; 1913.
50. Granieri E., Fazio P. The Lombrosian prejudice in medicine. The case of epilepsy. Epileptic psychosis. Epilepsy and aggressiveness. Neurol Sci. 2012; 33 (1): 173–92. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-011-0568-6.
51. Vawter M.P., Freed W.J., Kleinman J.E. Neuropathology of bipolar disorder. Biol Psychiatry. 2000; 48 (6): 486–504. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0006-3223(00)00978-1.
52. Lennox W.G. (Ed.). Epilepsy and related disorders. Vol. II. Boston: Little, Brown & Co; 1960.
53. Nadkarni S., Arnedo V., Devinsky O. Psychosis in epilepsy patients. Epilepsia. 2007; 48 (Suppl. 9): 17–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1167.2007.01394.x.
54. Nicolson A., Chadwick D.W., Smith D.F. The coexistence of idiopathic generalized epilepsy and partial epilepsy. Epilepsia. 2004; 45 (6): 682–5. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0013-9580.2004.45003.x.
55. Skar J. Knut Rasmusson Nordgarden eller Visknut. 1898 (in Norwegian).
56. Devinsky O., Lai G. Spirituality and religion in epilepsy. Epilepsy Behav. 2008; 12 (4): 636–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2007.11.011.
57. Wright B.H. Tennyson, the weird seizures in The Princess, and epilepsy. Lit Med. 1987; 6: 61–76. https://doi.org/10.1353/lm.2011.0022.
58. Yacubian E.M.T., Caboclo L.O.S.F. Epilepsy and stigma: an approach to understanding through the life and works of the Brazilian writer Machado de Assis (1839–1908). Epilepsy Behav. 2011; 20 (3) 465–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2010.12.040.
59. Levi A. Cardinal Richelieu and the making of France. New York: Carroll & Graf; 2000: 256 pp.
60. Hughes J.R. The seizures of Peter Alexeevich = Peter the Great, father of modern Russia. Epilepsy Behav. 2007; 10 (1): 179–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2006.11.005.
61. Waugh A. Alfred Lord Tennyson. New York: United States Book; 1892.
62. Mankowitz W. The extraordinary Mr. Poe. New York: Summit Books; 1978.
63. Wilson A.N. Tolstoy. New York: Norton; 1988.
64. Nazimova M.G. From the Tolstoy family chronicle: with an appendix of the genealogy of Tolstoy nobles and counts. Tula; 2007: 124 pp. (in Russ.).
65. Frank J.G.D.I. Selected letters of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press; 1987.
66. Larner A.J. Dostoevsky and epilepsy. Adv Clin Neurosci Rehabil. 2006; 6 (1): 26.
67. Morgan H. Dostoevsky’s epilepsy: a case report and comparison. Surg Neurol. 1990; 33 (6): 413–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/0090-3019(90)90155-i.
68. Seneviratne U. Fyodor Dostoevsky and his falling sickness: a critical analysis of seizure semiology. Epilepsy Behav. 2010; 18 (4): 424–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2010.05.004.
69. Siegel A.M., Dorn T. Dostoievsky’s life in the interrelation between epilepsy and literature. Nervenarzt. 2001; 72 (6): 466–74 (in German).
70. Voskuil P.H.A. The epilepsy of Fyodor Mikhailovitch Dostoevsky (1821–1881). Epilepsia. 1983; 24 (6): 658–67. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1157.1983.tb04628.x.
71. Wolf P. Epilepsy in literature. Epilepsia. 1995; 36 (S1): 12–7. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1157.1995.tb01646.x.
72. Mayne E.C. Letters of Fyodor Michailovitch Dostoevsky to his family and friends. London: Peter Owen; 1962.
73. Åsheim Hansen B., Brodtkorb E. Partial epilepsy with “ecstatic” seizures. Epilepsy Behav. 2004; 4 (6): 667–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2003.09.009.
74. Hughes J.R. Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte: did he have seizures? Psychogenic or epileptic or both? Epilepsy Behav. 2003; 4 (6): 793–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2003.09.005.
75. Hughes J.R. The idiosyncratic aspects of the epilepsy of Fyodor Dostoevsky. Epilepsy Behav. 2005; 7 (3): 531–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2005.07.021.
76. Hughes J.R. A reappraisal of the possible seizures of Vincent van Gogh. Epilepsy Behav. 2005; 6 (4): 504–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2005.02.014.
77. Gastaut H. New Comments on the Epilepsy of Fyodor Dostoevsky. Epilepsia. 1984; 25 (4): 408–11. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1157.1984.tb03435.x.
78. Gastaut H. Fyodor Michailovitch Dostoevsky’s involuntary contribution to the symptomatology and prognosis of epilepsy. William G. Lennox Lecture, 1977. Epilepsia. 1978; 19 (2): 186–201. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1157.1978.tb05030.x.
79. Waxman S.G., Geschwind N. Hypergraphia in temporal lobe epilepsy. Neurology. 1974; 24 (7): 629–36. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.24.7.629.
80. Waxman S.G., Geschwind N. The interictal behavior syndrome of temporal lobe epilepsy. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1975; 32 (12): 1580–6. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1975.01760300118011.
81. Baumann C.R., Novikov V.P., Regard M., Siegel A.M. Did Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky suffer from mesial temporal lobe epilepsy? Seizure. 2005; 14 (5): 324–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seizure.2005.04.004.
82. Freud S. Dostoevsky and parricide. In: Strachey J. (Ed.) Standard edition of the collected psychological works of Sigmund Freud. London: Hogarth Press; 1961: 177–94.
83. Iniesta I. Epilepsy in Dostoevsky. Prog Brain Res. 2013; 205: 277–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-63273-9.00014-9.
84. Iniesta I. On the good use of epilepsy by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Clin Med (Lond). 2008; 8 (3): 338–9. https://doi.org/10.7861/clinmedicine.8-3-338.
85. Stefan H., Schulze-Bonhage A., Pauli E., et al. Ictal pleasant sensations: cerebral localization and lateralization. Epilepsia. 2004; 45 (1): 35–40. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0013-9580.2004.09303.x.
86. Tanuri F.D., Thomaz R.B., Tanuri J.A. Temporal lobe epilepsy with aura of pleasure: case report. Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2000; 58 (1): 178–80 (in Portuguese). https://doi.org/10.1590/s0004-282x2000000100028.
87. Bancaud J., Bonis A., Trottier S., et al. Continuous partial epilepsy: syndrome and disease. Rev Neurol. (Paris). 1982; 138 (11): 803–14 (in French).
88. French J.A., Williamson P.D., Thadani V.M., et al. Characteristics of medial temporal lobe epilepsy: I. Results of history and physical examination. Ann Neurol. 1993; 34 (6): 774–80. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.410340604.
89. Iniesta I. Dostoevsky’s epilepsy: a contemporary “paleodiagnosis”. Seizure. 2007; 16 (3): 283–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seizure.2006.11.003.
90. Iniesta I. Medical classics: The Brothers Karamazov. BMJ. 2009; 338: b1999. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b1999.
91. Jeha L.E., Morris H.H., Burgess R.C. Coexistence of focal and idiopatic generalized epilepsy in the same patient population. Seizure. 2006; 15 (1): 28–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seizure.2005.10.004.
92. Cirignotta F., Todesco C.V., Lugaresi E. Temporal lobe epilepsy with ecstatic seizures (so-called Dostoevsky epilepsy). Epilepsia. 1980; 21 (6): 705–10. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1157.1980.tb04324.x.
93. DeToledo J.C. The epilepsy of Fyodor Dostoyevsky: insights from Smerdyakov Karamazov’s use of a malingered seizure as an alibi. Arch Neurol. 2001; 58 (8): 1305–6. https://doi.org/10.1001/archneur.58.8.1305.
94. Cade J. Agatha Christie and the eleven missing days. London: Peter Owen; 1998.
95. Lang P.H. George Frideric Handel. New York: Norton; 1966.
96. Polybius. Ancient History Sourcebook (c. 200 BC) (trans. by Shuckburgh E.S.). London: Macmillan; 1889.
97. Lombroso C.T., Lerman P. Breathholding spells (cyanotic and pallid infantile syncope). Pediatrics. 1967; 39 (4): 563–81.
98. Lewis R.W. Dante. New York: Penguin-Viking; 2001.
99. Monaco F., Mula M. Cesare Lombroso and epilepsy 100 years later: an unabridged report of his original transactions. Epilepsia. 2011; 52 (4): 679–88. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1167.2010.02959.x.
100. Nokes D. Jonathan Swift, a hypocrite reversed: a critical biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1985.
101. Hunting R. Jonathan Swift. Boston: Twayne; 1967.
102. Murray T.J. Dr Samuel Johnson’s movement disorder. Br Med J. 1979; 1 (6178): 1610–4. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.1.6178.1610.
103. Cohen M.N. Lewis Carroll, a biography. New York: Knopf; 1975.
104. Bragg M. Richard Burton in life. Boston: Little, Brown; 1988.
105. Ober W.B. Swinburne’s masochism: neuropathology and psychopathology. Bull Menninger Clin. 1975; 39 (6): 501–55.
106. MacCarthy F. Byron, life and legend. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux; 2002.
107. Betts T., Betts H. John Hall and his epileptic patients – epilepsy management in early 17th century England. Seizure. 1998; 7 (5): 411–4. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1059-1311(05)80012-3.
108. Victor M., Brausch C. The role of abstinence in the genesis of alcoholic epilepsy. Epilepsia. 1967; 8 (1): 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1157.1967.tb03815.x.
109. Cosnett J.E. Charles Dickens and epilepsy. Epilepsia. 1994; 35 (4): 903–5. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1157.1994.tb02530.x.
110. Hutton R.H. Sir Walter Scott. London: Macmillan; 1888.
111. Riley T.L.R.A. (Ed.) Pseudoseizures. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins; 1982.
112. Larner A.J. ‘A ray of darkness’: Margiad Evans’s account of her epilepsy (1952). Clin Med (Lond). 2009; 9 (2): 193–4. https://doi.org/10.7861/clinmedicine.9-2-193.
113. Solomon M. Beethoven. New York: Shirmer Books; 1998.
114. Teive H.A.G., Germiniani F.M.B., Cardoso A.B., et al. The uncinated crisis of George Gershwin. Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2002; 60 (2-B): 505–8. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0004-282x2002000300033.
Review
For citations:
Ulitin A.Yu., Vasilenko A.V., Sokolov I.A., Bulaeva M.A., Kolosov S.S., Turanov S.A., Ulitin G.A., Vinogradova A.A. Epilepsy – a disease of geniuses? Epilepsy and paroxysmal conditions. 2023;15(1):70-84. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17749/2077-8333/epi.par.con.2023.145

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.