Distinct Experiences in Epilepsy - Version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Mystical seizures and salience in temporal lobe epilepsy
IRAS ID
202899
Contact name
Alasdair Coles
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 6 months, 31 days
Research summary
We propose a study of mystical or religious experience in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), investigating both the physiological and psychological structures of these experiences and the psychological meaning that patients construct or profess in regards to these experiences. The central aims of the study are two-fold. First, this study will identify if there is a universal neurological site or structure that is associated with mystical experience in epilepsy. Second, this study will seek to better understand how mystical or religious experience in TLE is constructed and what that can inform us about more general mechanisms of religious experience and meaning making. This study will also investigate if and how religious tradition, upbringing, and participation interact with unusual and/or particularly intense sensations.
This project will be conducted by recruiting patients who have mystical experiences during seizure (from now referred to as mystical epilepsy) and compare them to patients diagnosed with epilepsy with similar localization, as well as patients diagnosed with epilepsy associated with intense emotional sensations. These participants will be given standardized scales measuring their religious and spiritual beliefs, their mystical experiences, and sense of personal meaning. Additionally, these participants will be interviewed about their experiences with mystical epilepsy, typical religious routines, conversions or other changes in their faith, their religious and spiritual environment and communities, and the relation of their mystical epilepsy to any of those subjects. The interviews of patients with mystical epilepsy will be compared to those of religiously similar but neurologically healthy participants. This study will allow researchers both to add to existing research on the neurology of religious and mystical life, as well as investigate the subjective meanings and values held by patients with mystical epilepsy, and their relation to more general religious and spiritual life.
REC name
London - Brent Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/1328
Date of REC Opinion
15 Sep 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion