Dostoevsky's epilepsy: A new approach to retrospective diagnosis

► Dostoevsky and patients with temporolimbic epilepsy shared similar experiences. ► In temporolimbic patients, these experiences were seizure related. ► Dostoevsky and patients with temporolimbic epilepsy experienced an ecstatic aura. ► Temporolimbic epilepsy reveals an organic basis for some of Freud's theories.