automatisme

Automatisme, from the French word for automatic, denotes processes or actions performed with little or no conscious control. The term is used across disciplines—medicine, law, and the arts—to describe automatic functioning or methods intended to bypass deliberate thought.

In neurology and psychology, automatisms are involuntary actions that occur during altered states of consciousness, especially during seizures in temporal lobe epilepsy. They range from simple acts such as lip-smacking, blinking, or swallowing to complex behaviors like wandering or undressing. Automatisms may occur with preserved consciousness in some seizure forms or impaired awareness in others, and they help distinguish different clinical syndromes from voluntary behavior or compulsions.

Legally, automatisme can refer to a defense based on acting without conscious control, either due to external factors (external automatism) or a mental disorder (insane automatism). If accepted, it can negate criminal intent in the jurisdiction, with examples including sleepwalking, concussion-induced unconsciousness, or certain dissociative states.

In the arts, automatic writing and drawing (l'écriture automatique, dessin automatique) are techniques used to access the subconscious by letting hand movements proceed without deliberate planning. Widely associated with Surrealism, practitioners such as André Breton and others used automatisme to reveal spontaneous associations and challenge rational control.

Automatisme thus spans medical phenomena, legal concepts, and creative practices, reflecting the broad idea of action or expression that arises without deliberate intention.