Religious conversion in an older male with longstanding epilepsy.
William B Barr, Anli Liu, Casey Laduke, Siddhartha Nadkarni, Orrin Devinsky
Epilepsy & behavior reports January 1, 2022 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1016/j.ebr.2022.100524 via PubMed
Summary
A 75-year-old man with epilepsy experienced a religious conversion 15 years earlier, followed by progressive cognitive decline, worsening religious delusions, and Capgras syndrome. Brain imaging showed bilateral posterior cortical atrophy, chronic right parieto-occipital encephalomalacia, and right mesial temporal sclerosis. Initial right temporal lobe abnormalities on EEG and neuropsychological testing progressed to frontal and bilateral dysfunction. The case suggests that seizures, sensory deprivation, and progressive brain impairment may contribute to religious conversion, later leading to dementia and religious delusions.
Study at a glance
| Design | case study |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1 |
| Population | 75-year-old man with epilepsy |
| Key finding | Seizures, sensory deprivation, and progressive right posterior and bilateral anterior brain dysfunction may contribute to religious conversion followed by dementia and delusions with religious content. |
Abstract
Religious experiences in epilepsy patients have provoked much interest with suggestions that hyperreligiosity is associated with temporal lobe seizures. Extreme varieties of religious behavior may be more frequent in epilepsy patients during ictal activity or during post-ictal psychotic episodes. We report a 75 year-old man with epilepsy who developed a progressive decline in cognition and behavior following a religious conversion 15 years earlier. He subsequently developed religious delusions of increasing severity and symptoms of Capgras syndrome. Brain imaging revealed bilateral posterior cortical atrophy, chronic right parieto-occipital encephalomalacia, and right mesial temporal sclerosis. Electroencephalograms and neuropsychological testing revealed initial right temporal lobe abnormalities followed by progressive frontal and bilateral dysfunction. The case highlights how a history of seizures, superimposed on sensory deprivation and a progressive impairment of right posterior and bilateral anterior brain function, may have contributed to religious conversion, which was followed by dementia and delusions involving religious content.