Obsessiveness and Viscosity

Abstract

There has been a long and controversial history concerning the relationship between epilepsy, and specific epilepsy syndromes, and the presence and characteristics of diverse personality and behavioral changes. Here we focus on several distinct traits that have been included in this area of research including obsessiveness, viscosity, hypergraphia, and verbosity. Aspects of this interesting history are reviewed, the development and elaboration of theories concerning these personality and behavioral traits and epilepsy are discussed, and segments of the empirical research that has been conducted in the field are examined. The presence, rate, and correlates of these target behaviors (e.g., hypergraphia, viscosity) vary as a function of important details of the research methodology (e.g., mode of assessment, operational definition of behavior). The clinical significance and underlying neurobiology of these characteristics remain to be determined.