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Article
January 1984

Reading Epilepsy

Author Affiliations

Department of Neurology General Hospital Ayresome Green Lane Middlesbrough, Cleveland England
Department of Neurophysiology Newcastle General Hospital Westgate Road Newcastle upon Tyne, England

Arch Neurol. 1984;41(1):13-14. doi:10.1001/archneur.1984.04050130015003
Abstract

To the Editor.  —The authoritative review of reading epilepsy by Ramani (Archives 1983;40:39-41) prompts a brief report of another case seen in 1979 and 1980.

Report of a Case.  —A 23-year-old foreign student suffered a tonic-clonic seizure while reading a Playboy magazine in bed. This seizure had been preceded by an odd sensation in the chin, locking of the jaw, and then loss of consciousness. A previous seizure had occurred in 1976, and, on many additional occasions, he had noted that reading induced the preictal symptoms. Emotional or anxiety-provoking reading material, particularly mail from home or newspaper accounts of political tensions in his home country, were most likely to incite these attacks. There was no family history of seizures. A baseline EEG and response to the usual activation procedures were normal, but when the patient read a newspaper article describing the troubles at home, intermittent brief bursts and a smaller

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