psychomotor epilepsy

another name for recurrent partial seizures. the term psychomotor is used to describe the distorted emotions and behaviours often exhibited.

Symptoms

• Abnormal emotional sensations (extreme fear/joy etc) not related to actual stimuli.
• hallucinations or illusions (may be visions, tastes, smells)
• strong sense of deja vu.
• muscle contractions usually only affecting part of the body (rare).
• lip movements.
• uncontrolled chewing and swallowing.
• excessive slobbering.
• forced turning of the head and/or eyes (usually towards opposite side of the affected portion of the brain).
• numbness, tingling or an 'asleep' feeling (usually only in one area of the body).
• loss of memory (amnesia) of the seizure and events leading up to it.

psychomotor epilepsy: a seizure disorder involving abnormal discharge of neurons of the temporal lobe; sometimes called temporal lobe epilepsy. Since the seizure disorders were classified in 1970 and revised in 1981 according to the clinical form of the seizure and the EEG changes, this condition is also called complex partial seizure, wherein episodic changes in behavior are accompanied by loss of normal conscious awareness but the capacity to response to environmental stimuli remains. The seizure is preceded by an aura with complex hallucinations, fantasy, or sensory illusions. While in this state of altered consciousness, the patient may drive a car, continue to read a book, or carry out a ritualistic activity as would a robot, but will not respond to questions or commands. There is amnesia for the seizure, and recovery may take as long as an hour. Some paraphilic activities may be conducted while the paraphile is in a temporal lobe, psychomotor, or complex partial seizure state. See also paraphilia.

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