Abstract
For many years, as a psychiatrist and neurophysiologist, Russell Monroe has been interested in episodic behavioral disorders. Some of these disorders, he believes, are caused by brainstorms: electrical discharges in the limbic system. Working with Robert Heath at Tulane, he observed the LSD-like effects of electrical stimulation of the limbic system. Once, watching a flower garden while under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug, he excitedly jumped to his feet and exclaimed, My God, a van Gogh painting! From these experiences he formed a hypothesis: some creative people have brainstorms (sudden inspirations) because of epileptoid activity in the limbic lobe. The idea that genius and epilepsy are connected has a long history. Reputed epileptic geniuses have included Socrates, Caesar, Byron, Peter the Great, and Alfred Nobel. It is obviously a hard theory to prove. Nevertheless, Monroe has pursued the brainstorm theory tenaciously. In the book he compares creative people who
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