%0 Journal Article
%T D¨¦j¨¤ Experiences in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
%A Nathan A. Illman
%A Chris R. Butler
%A Celine Souchay
%A Chris J. A. Moulin
%J Epilepsy Research and Treatment
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/539567
%X Historically, d¨¦j¨¤ vu has been linked to seizure activity in temporal lobe epilepsy, and clinical reports suggest that many patients experience the phenomenon as a manifestation of simple partial seizures. We review studies on d¨¦j¨¤ vu in epilepsy with reference to recent advances in the understanding of d¨¦j¨¤ vu from a cognitive and neuropsychological standpoint. We propose a decoupled familiarity hypothesis, whereby d¨¦j¨¤ vu is produced by an erroneous feeling of familiarity which is not in keeping with current cognitive processing. Our hypothesis converges on a parahippocampal dysfunction as the locus of d¨¦j¨¤ vu experiences. However, several other temporal lobe structures feature in reports of d¨¦j¨¤ vu in epilepsy. We suggest that some of the inconsistency in the literature derives from a poor classification of the various types of d¨¦j¨¤ experiences. We propose d¨¦j¨¤ vu/d¨¦j¨¤ v¨¦cu as one way of understanding d¨¦j¨¤ experiences more fully. This distinction is based on current models of memory function, where d¨¦j¨¤ vu is caused by erroneous familiarity and d¨¦j¨¤ v¨¦cu by erroneous recollection. Priorities for future research and clinical issues are discussed. 1. Introduction D¨¦j¨¤ vu is a transitory mental state whereby a novel experience, such as a first time visit to a new city, feels as if it is familiar. Although the scientific literature on d¨¦j¨¤ vu is limited, much of it comes from the study of epilepsy, and it is this literature that we review here. Following a recent upsurge of interest in d¨¦j¨¤ vu following an influential review [1], experimental paradigms have been developed which produce an analogue of d¨¦j¨¤ vu in the laboratory (e.g., [2¨C4]). In this paper we take the view that d¨¦j¨¤ vu is a memory-based illusion, originating from the erroneous activation of the epistemic feeling of familiarity. As such, we are interested in how d¨¦j¨¤ vu is experienced in epilepsy, how it relates to memory in epilepsy more generally, and neural accounts of recognition memory in epilepsy. In turn, we elucidate what the study of epilepsy can contribute to our understanding of the d¨¦j¨¤ vu phenomenon. The study of d¨¦j¨¤ experiences in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) has a long history, dating back at least to Hughlings-Jackson¡¯s 19th century description of the ¡°dreamy state [5]¡±: ¡°[W]hat is occupying the attention is what has occupied it before, and indeed has been familiar, but has been for a time forgotten, and now is recovered with a slight sense of satisfaction as if it had been sought for. Hughlings-Jackson (1888, page 202).¡± Hughlings-Jackson [6] coined the phrase ¡°dreamy
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ert/2012/539567/