Consciousness in non-epileptic attack disorder.
Behavioural neurology January 1, 2011 Markus Reuber, M Kurthen 23 citations
Non-epileptic attack disorder (NEAD) is a key condition to distinguish from epilepsy. This review examines clinical research on consciousness during non-epileptic attacks (NEAs) and places it within recent neuroscience and philosophy of mind debates. The authors argue that studies should differentiate between 'level' and 'content' of consciousness, as well as between 'phenomenal consciousness' and 'access consciousness'. Evidence shows great variability in NEA experiences, but in most attacks, phenomenal experience and vigilance are reduced less than in epileptic seizures involving consciousness impairment. Complete loss of consciousness is the exception, not the rule, and both patients and observers may overestimate consciousness impairments during seizures.