• Lukas Heydrich, Guillaume Marillier, Nathan Evans, Olaf Blanke, and Margitta Seeck.
• Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain-Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland Department of Neurology, University Hospital Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
• J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. 2015 Nov 1;86(11):1273-6.

ObjectivesEver since John Hughlings Jackson first described the so-called 'dreamy state' during temporal lobe epilepsy, that is, the sense of an abnormal familiarity (déjà vu) or vivid memory-like hallucinations from the past (experiential hallucinations), these phenomena have been studied and repeatedly linked to mesial temporal lobe structures. However, little is known about the lateralising value of either déjà vu or experiential hallucinations.MethodsWe analysed a sample of 28 patients with intractable focal epilepsy suffering from either déjà vu or experiential hallucinations. All the patients underwent thorough presurgical examination, including MRI, positron emission tomography, single-photon emission CT, EEG and neuropsychological examination.ResultsWhile déjà vu was due to right or left mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, experiential hallucinations were strongly lateralised to the left mesial temporal lobe. Moreover, there was a significant effect for interictal language deficits being more frequent in patients suffering from experiential hallucinations.ConclusionsThese results suggest a lateralising value for experiential hallucinations to the left temporal lobe.Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

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