Biomaterial Database

The "dreamy state": John Hughlings-Jackson's ideas of epilepsy and consciousness. 2003

R Edward Hogan, and Kitti Kaiboriboon

Greater Midwest Epilepsy Treatment Center, Deparment of Neurology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO 63110, USA. hoganr2@slu.edu

OBJECTIVE The authors review John Hughlings-Jackson's writings on the "dreamy state" and his subsequent derivation of degrees of consciousness. METHODS They reviewed the publications of Hughlings-Jackson from his initial description of the "dreamy state" in 1876 until his writing about the "uncinate group of fits" in 1899. They then examined Hughlings-Jackson's use of the associated signs and symptoms of the "dreamy state" to formulate his ideas about human consciousness. RESULTS Hughlings-Jackson defined the "dreamy state" as "over-consciousness," or a heightened intellectual state. He described associated symptoms of "crude sensations" of smell and taste, an unusual epigastric sensation, chewing and lip smacking, automatisms, postictal symptoms, and at least some degree of alteration of consciousness. Using his observations of the "dreamy state" as a model, Hughlings-Jackson proposed three degrees of consciousness, each with an object and subject component. CONCLUSIONS Through his description of the "dreamy state," Hughlings-Jackson accurately characterized and localized medial temporal epilepsy. Correlating the ictal semiology of the "dreamy state" with consciousness, he developed a theory of consciousness that remains relevant to current understanding of the mind-brain relationship.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D001921	Brain	The part of CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM that is contained within the skull (CRANIUM). Arising from the NEURAL TUBE, the embryonic brain is comprised of three major parts including PROSENCEPHALON (the forebrain); MESENCEPHALON (the midbrain); and RHOMBENCEPHALON (the hindbrain). The developed brain consists of CEREBRUM; CEREBELLUM; and other structures in the BRAIN STEM.	Encephalon
D003243	Consciousness	Sense of awareness of self and of the environment.	Consciousnesses
D004827	Epilepsy	A disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of paroxysmal brain dysfunction due to a sudden, disorderly, and excessive neuronal discharge. Epilepsy classification systems are generally based upon: (1) clinical features of the seizure episodes (e.g., motor seizure), (2) etiology (e.g., post-traumatic), (3) anatomic site of seizure origin (e.g., frontal lobe seizure), (4) tendency to spread to other structures in the brain, and (5) temporal patterns (e.g., nocturnal epilepsy). (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p313)	Aura,Awakening Epilepsy,Seizure Disorder,Epilepsy, Cryptogenic,Auras,Cryptogenic Epilepsies,Cryptogenic Epilepsy,Epilepsies,Epilepsies, Cryptogenic,Epilepsy, Awakening,Seizure Disorders
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D049672	History, 19th Century	Time period from 1801 through 1900 of the common era.	19th Century History,19th Cent. History (Medicine),19th Cent. History of Medicine,19th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 19th Century,History of Medicine, 19th Cent.,History, Nineteenth Century,Medical History, 19th Cent.,Medicine, 19th Cent.,19th Cent. Histories (Medicine),19th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 19th (Medicine),Cent. History, 19th (Medicine),Century Histories, 19th,Century Histories, Nineteenth,Century History, 19th,Century History, Nineteenth,Histories, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 19th Century,Histories, Nineteenth Century,History, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Nineteenth Century Histories,Nineteenth Century History