Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Hello Everyone,These are some notes I took from doing a little research on the internet that might be interesting. They are in note form but I have provided the URL so you can read the article yourself. It's probably better to do that first before reading the notes. Tell me what you think...
---------------------------------------------------------------------Temporal Lobe Epilepsy:-Cause for dramatic hallucinations
-Cause for "huge" galvanic skin response when religious image is presented ie: the word "God"Founder of 7th day adventist movement had "hundreds" of religious visions which "were key in the establishment of the church"Biography of Ellen (the founder of the 7th day movement)-Age of 9 suffered severe blow to the head, as a result she could not go to school; semi-conscious for weeks-following accident Ellen became changed dramatically and she became "highly religious and moralistic"-Had powerful visions for the first time-Blow to the head caused the TLE---------------------------------------------------------------------
The reason this is interesting to me as well is because I used to be a believer in God but now I'm more of an agnostic. I had a vision/hallucination once, it was 3:16 AM when the ordeal was over (I don't know why I remembered the time) and something was right beside my bed. I don't know what it was (I was half asleep) but at the time I thought it was a demon or the devil himself. I was absolutely racked with fear that I was totally paralyzed and unable to move even the slightest bit. I then heard the figure, it was whispering something in my ear but I didn't want to listen to it because I know the devil is all lies, so I simply thought in my mind over and over "Jesus help me!" The interesting thing about this is that I remember the pain of my temples. They were throbbing like mad and I thought I was definitely going to have an aneurysm. Although I've never had any blows to my head that I'm aware of I do remember that I had taken a heavy dose of ginko biloba pills (because I was studying during the day or something) which increases blood flow to the brain.... something to think about.---------------------------------------------------------------------
URL: BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | God on the Brain

Thread moved here from the Proposed New Topics forum.

I would think there is a linksee: Message 1I had also heard mention of the Prophet Mohammed having fits ... a quick google found this:http://users.skynet.be/sky50779/mohammed.htm It would be interesting to put all the elements together?

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we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand RebelAAmerican.Zen[Deist
{{{Buddha walks off laughing with joy}}}

Thank you RAZD, that link you provided was very interesting!

Mission for Truth, If you were into diet sodas, nutra-sweet, aspartame, this article might be for you, also heard a doctor on Christian television, saying diet sodas are problematic, Pat Robertson calls diet sodas poison, etc...Access deniedI assure you that MONSANTO, the creator of ASPARTAME, knows how deadly it is. They fund the American Diabetes Association, American Dietetic Association, Congress, and the Conference of the American College of Physicians. The New York Times, on November 15, 1996, ran an article on how the American Dietetic Association takes money from the food industry to endorse their products. Therefore, they can not criticize any additives or tell about their link to MONSANTO. How bad is this? We told a mother who had a child on NutraSweet to get off the product. The child was having grand mal seizures every day. The mother called her physician, who called the ADA, who told the doctor not to take the child off NutraSweet. We are still trying to convince the mother that the ASPARTAME is causing the seizures. Every time we get someone off of ASPARTAME, the seizures stop. If the baby dies, you know whose fault it is, and what we are up against. There are 92 documented symptoms of ASPARTAME, from coma to death. The majority of them are all neurological, because the ASPARTAME destroys the nervous system.

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I had a vision/hallucination once, it was 3:16 AM when the ordeal was over (I don't know why I remembered the time) and something was right beside my bed. I don't know what it was (I was half asleep) but at the time I thought it was a demon or the devil himself. I was absolutely racked with fear that I was totally paralyzed and unable to move even the slightest bit. I then heard the figure, it was whispering something in my ear but I didn't want to listen to it because I know the devil is all lies, so I simply thought in my mind over and over "Jesus help me!" . . .

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I have these types of waking halucinations about two or three times a month, but without any other symptoms such as headaches or ringing in the ears. The best explanation is that you probably woke yourself up during REM sleep, when your brain is firing off random impulses. I too experience sleep paralysis during these episodes, which was quite frightening when these waking halucinations first started about 10 years ago. I have actually trained myself to control the halucinations. In fact, I actually morphed my grandfather into a dancing Mickey Mouse one time. I still freak out a bit right at first, but then I quickly recognize what is going on and enjoy the ride. It's a lot cheaper than shrooms.

Hi Mission for Truth!I started the thread: Message 1 that RAZD refered to after watching the BBC-documentary from the article you refered to.I see you come from Canada. Perhaps you should take the trip to Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario and get a session with Dr.Michael Persinger and his "God Helmet". It would be cool to hear from somebody who have had some similar religious experience to compare with the induced experience Dr.Persinger gets from his helmet.Here is an url from a reporter who tried it This Is Your Brain on God | WIRED

HelloScepticscand: I haven't read the link you posted yet as I just woke up --no hallucinations this night -- but I will, and thank you.Loudmouth: aren't they weird!? I mean I thought I was going crazy or something! When I had that experience I really wasn't sure if I was dreaming or not, I just remember rolling over onto my back and then all of a sudden it happened. I was conscious though, so I must have been half-asleep or something. It was interesting to me that you also had the paralysis, do you get it even now when you can manipulate your hallucinations? Also, did your temples feel like they were going to explode? Mine sure did. Out of curiousity, do you take ginko biloba as well? Or other brain stimulating herbs? I'm just asking because I would love to find the cause of these crazy experiences!Time for breakfast... -Sean

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It was interesting to me that you also had the paralysis, do you get it even now when you can manipulate your hallucinations? Also, did your temples feel like they were going to explode? Mine sure did. Out of curiousity, do you take ginko biloba as well? Or other brain stimulating herbs? I'm just asking because I would love to find the cause of these crazy experiences!

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Still get them and still control them. The paralysis is probably the spookiest part, especially when you can move your lips but can't utter a word. I don't experience any throbbing though, and I don't take ginko. I have found that these hallucinations come on right after I go to sleep, usually within an hour. What seems to bring them on is poor sleeping habits and drinking. If I tie one on a couple nights in a row, the third night my body really needs quality REM sleep and that's when the halucinations start, both visual and auditory. Halucinations also occur when I'm really tired, like only getting 3 hours of sleep the night before. The common theme is that my brain is a little tired and goes wild when it gets the chance.Added in edit: the throbbing thing may have been due to an increase in heart rate or blood pressure. These episodes often cause my heart to race, kind of a fight or flight response, adrenaline rush sort of thing.[This message has been edited by Loudmouth, 04-30-2004]

Man, these forums are great. When I was a believing christian obviously this experience was a big thing for me, but I'm honestly glad to know that it's not anything divine and in fact other people have them too....Very interesting! Science is pretty cool.