[2] Temporal lobe epilepsy causes chronic, mild, interictal (i.e., between seizures) changes in personality, which slowly intensify over time.
[1] Geschwind syndrome includes five primary changes: hypergraphia, hyperreligiosity, atypical (usually reduced) sexuality, circumstantiality, and intensified mental life.
[4] Hypergraphia is the tendency for extensive and compulsive writing or drawing, and has been observed in persons with temporal lobe epilepsy who have experienced multiple seizures.
The great Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky, known to have epilepsy, showed signs of Geschwind syndrome, including hypergraphia.
[19] One reviewer concluded that the evidence for a link between temporal lobe epilepsy and hyperreligiosity "isn't terribly compelling".
[24] Individuals who demonstrate circumstantiality (or viscosity) tend to continue conversations for a long time and talk repetitively.