1043-3155 Pediatr Neurol Briefs pedneurbriefs Pediatr Neurol Briefs Pediatric Neurology Briefs Pediatr Neurol Briefs 2166-6482 1043-3155 2166-3155 Pediatric Neurology Briefs Publishers Chicago, IL, USA PNB-1-47-a 10.15844/pedneurbriefs-1-7-1 Seizure Disorders Neurology Pediatrics Nervous System Diseases Child Development Brain Diseases Neurosurgery Child Infant Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0173-7931 Millichap J. Gordon MD 1 2 * Division of Neurology, Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL Correspondence: Dr. J. Gordon Millichap, E-mail: jgmillichap@northwestern.edu 12 1987 01 08 2016 1 7 47 47 Copyright: © 1987 The Author(s) 1987 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Epileptic seizures evoked by the Rubik’s cube

A case-report from the Dept of Medicine, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, concerns a young adult with myoclonic epilepsy since 15 yrs of age whose attacks were precipitated while playing with the Rubik’s cube, a three-dimensional colored puzzle.

 Myoclonic Epilepsy Three-Dimensional Colored Puzzle Mental Blocking

A case-report from the Dept of Medicine, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, concerns a young adult with myoclonic epilepsy since 15 yrs of age whose attacks were precipitated while playing with the Rubik’s cube, a three-dimensional colored puzzle. The EEG at rest and with photic stimulation was normal; playing the cube produced generalized 3Hz S/W accompanied by myoclonic jerks and mental blocking. Arithmetic, draughts (checkers), card games, and reading precipitated EEG epileptiform discharges but not jerks. Diazepam prevented the seizures, but made him drowsy. The patient preferred to disengage his mind from the puzzle when he felt a jerk. [1]

COMMENT. Having played the Rubik’s Cube and Rubik’s Magic unsuccessfully myself and given up in despair, I can imagine that frustration could be a factor responsible for the patient’s seizures as much as “spatial and decision making processes“. The same author has described seizures evoked by card games, draughts, and a local game with sea shells called “punchi“ [2]. Ch’en, Chi’in, and Ch’u were the first to describe Chess and Card epilepsy!. [3]

 Senanayake N Epileptic seizures evoked by the Rubik’s cube J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1987 Nov 50 11 1553 4 10.1136/jnnp.50.11.1553 3694214 Senanayake N Epileptic seizures evoked by card games, draughts, and similar games Epilepsia 1987 Jul-Aug 28 4 356 61 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1987.tb03657.x 3622411 Ch’en HP Ch’in C Ch’ü CP Chess epilepsy and card epilepsy: two new patterns of reflex epilepsy Chin Med J 1965 Jul 84 7 470 4 5865198