A case of seizures induced by abstract reasoning

We describe a case of reflex seizures induced by abstract reasoning but not other cognitive processes. The patient, a 46-year-old man, experienced myoclonic seizures whenever he played shogi (Japanese chess). To identify the critical thought processes responsible for inducing his seizures, we monitored his clinical seizures and epileptiform discharges while he performed comprehensive neuropsychological tests, including the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R), spatial working memory, mental rotation, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) tasks. A myoclonic seizure occurred only during the WCST. Generalized 3- to 5-Hz spike-and-slow-wave bursts occurred repeatedly during the Block Design subtest of the WAIS-R and the WCST, whereas no discharges occurred during other subtests of the WAIS-R including the calculation, spatial working memory, and mental rotation tasks. These results indicate that abstract reasoning, independent of other cognitive processes, could induce the patient's epileptiform discharges, suggesting that his reflex seizures might be a distinct subtype of nonverbal thinking-induced seizures.