Biomedical subjects

E Foote-Smith

Publications and source records attributed to E Foote-Smith.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1996

Emanuel Swedenborg.

How is it that the name of a brilliant 18th century scientist and philosopher, many of whose exceptional achievements were often advanced for his time, is almost never mentioned in the annals of science? And how did it happen that a man very deeply dedicated to the advancement of science experienced a vision that completely altered the course of his life? We suggest, based on his extensive self-analytical writings, that the source of his spiritual experiences was temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and that he is among the group of creative religious thinkers also suspected or known to have had epilepsy, from St. Paul and Mohammed to Dostoevsky, who have changed Western civilization.

Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Joan of Arc.

For centuries, romantics have praised and historians and scientists debated the mystery of Joan of Arc's exceptional achievements. How could an uneducated farmer's daughter, raised in harsh isolation in a remote village in medieval France, have found the strength and resolution to alter the course of history? Hypotheses have ranged from miraculous intervention to creative psychopathy. We suggest, based on her own words and the contemporary descriptions of observers, that the source of her visions and convictions was in part ecstatic epileptic auras and that she joins the host of creative religious thinkers suspected or known to have epilepsy, from St. Paul and Mohammed to Dostoevsky, who have changed western civilization.

Epilepsy↗