Seizures coming from certain parts of the brain can either trigger or stimulate emotions or stimulate the recall of prior experiences. Fear is one emotion frequently experienced alone or as the aura of a seizure, as in William’s case. The emotion is often described in vague language: “I just felt scared.” “I can’t describe it—it’s a weird feeling.” “I know something’s going to happen, I know it’s coming.” A child may not be able to describe “it” at all, but his face has a frightened look and he comes running to his parent and holds on tightly. But, occasionally, feelings expressed are more specific. A scene experienced in the past will recur to the brain spontaneously; voices will be heard, though often they cannot be understood. (These feelings must be carefully differentiated from the hallucination of drugs or psychiatric illness.) Occasionally a person will have the sensation of deja vu, that he has experienced something before (even if it has not previously occurred) or that he has seen someone before, or an experience of jamais vu (never seen), when something or someone very familiar seems to be unknown.
Similar experiences may have occurred to each of us on occasion. But when they recur, when they are frequent, or when they are associated with other episodic changes in function or behavior, they may be simple partial seizures.
Olga comes running to her mother. “I’ve got that feeling in my hand again. I think I’m going to have another seizure.” In a few moments she develops jerking of the arm and then of the whole side of her body. What kind of a seizure is this? Where did it start in the brain? Would it have been a different kind of seizure if it began with jerking in the hand or foot, or with autonomic or psychic symptoms?
All such events are simple partial seizures starting in different areas of the brain. They may or may not spread to involve other brain areas.
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