Runner-up in the young physician's section of the Gowers' prize 2000. Epilepsy and the physical basis of consciousness

Abstract

The issue of human consciousness, in both its popular and neuroscientific sense, is considered from a clinical perspective. The ictal semiologies of the various epilepsies, together with associated clinical features, are demonstrated to highlight certain neuroanatomical and neurophysiological facets of consciousness. It is suggested that further insights into consciousness, even those bordering on the philosophical, may be led by clinical neurological phenomena and emerging neuroinvestigative techniques.