- A seizure is a sudden surge of electrical activity in the brain
- A seizure usually affects how a person appears or acts for a short time
- Many different things can occur during a seizure. Whatever the brain and body can do normally can also occur during a seizure
What happens in the brain during a seizure?
- The electrical activity is caused by complex chemical changes that occur in nerve cells.
- Brain cells either excite or inhibit (stop) other brain cells from sending messages. Usually there is a balance of cells that excite and those that can stop these messages. However, when a seizure occurs, there may be too much or too little activity, causing an imbalance between exciting and stopping activity. The chemical changes can lead to surges of electrical activity that cause seizures.
- Seizures are not a disease in themselves. Instead, they are a symptom of many different disorders that can affect the brain. Some seizures can hardly be noticed, while others are totally disabling.
The nature of seizures varies, because the lobes of the brain control different behaviors, movements and experiences.
If I have just one or two seizures does that mean I will get epilepsy?
- About half of the people who have one seizure without a clear cause will have another one, usually within 6 months.
- If there is a known cause for your seizure (for example, brain injury or other type of known brain condition), then you are twice as likely to have another seizure.
- If you have two seizures, there's about an 80% chance that you'll have more.
- If your first seizure occurred at the time of an injury or infection in the brain, then you are more likely to develop epilepsy. Often, more seizures don’t occur until weeks or months after the initial injury or infection.
- More seizures are also likely if your doctor finds abnormalities on a neurological examination (tests that are done in a doctor’s office to see how the nervous system is working).
- An EEG test or electroencephalogram (e-LEK-tro_en_SEF-uh_LOG-ram) can look at the electrical activity of the brain and may help predict whether more seizures will occur. Certain patterns on the EEG are typical of epilepsy. If your brain waves show patterns of that type, you are about twice as likely to develop epilepsy.
What is an absence seizure?
An absence seizure causes a short period of “blanking out” or staring into space. Like other kinds of seizures, they are caused by abnormal activity in a person’s brain. You may also hear people call absence seizures petit mal (“PUH-tee mahl”) seizures, although that name is not common anymore.
There are two types of absence seizures:
- Simple absence seizures: During a simple absence seizure, a person usually just stares into space for less than 10 seconds. Because they happen so quickly, it’s very easy not to notice simple absence seizures — or to confuse them with daydreaming or not paying attention.
- Complex absence seizures: During a complex absence seizure, a person will make some kind of movement in addition to staring into space. Movements may include blinking, chewing, or hand gestures. A complex absence seizure can last up to 20 seconds.
Absence seizures are so brief that they frequently escape detection.
Who’s at risk for absence seizures?
Absence seizures are most common in children ages 4 to 14. It’s also possible for older teens and adults to have absence seizures, but it’s less likely.What’s it like to have an absence seizure?
When people have absence seizures, they are unaware of what’s going on around them. For example, they won’t notice if someone tries to talk to them. If they were saying something when the seizure started, they may stop talking in the middle of a sentence.Some people have absence seizures for years before they know that anything’s wrong. Absence seizures are most likely to affect children, and it’s common for children not to pay attention for short periods of time — for example, at school. In fact, the first clue a parent might have that a child is having absence seizures is that the child is having trouble in school.
What happens after an absence seizure?
When an absence seizure ends, the person usually continues doing whatever they were doing before the seizure. They are almost always wide awake and able to think clearly. No first aid is needed because of the seizure.If someone has absence seizures, how often will they happen?
It depends. People who have absence seizures may have them every now and then, or they can happen very often. Some people who have absence seizures have them more than 100 times a day.How can I tell if someone is having an absence seizure?
A lot of the time, you can’t. That’s the tricky thing about absence seizures: Often, they come and go so quickly that no one notices anything unusual — and that includes the person who had the seizure! It’s very common for everyone to mistake absence seizures for daydreaming or not paying attention.During a complex absence seizure, people may:
- Blink over and over so it looks like they’re fluttering their eyelids
- Smack their lips
- Make chewing motions with their mouths
- Rub their fingers together
- Move their hands
How are absence seizures diagnosed?
Doctors will usually order a test, called an EEG (electroencephalogram), to check the brain for electrical activity that can cause seizures. If they think someone may be having absence seizures, doctors might also ask the person to breathe very quickly. This will often trigger (cause) seizures in people who get them.It’s very important that people who have absence seizures get the right diagnosis from a doctor, because absences seizures are often confused with other kinds of seizures — especially complex partial seizures.
How are absence seizures treated?
There are medicines that can help prevent absence seizures. And it’s also possible that absence seizures will go away on their own.In fact, 7 out of 10 kids with absence seizures will stop having them by age 18. Children who start having absence seizures before age 9 are much more likely to outgrow them than children whose absence seizures start after age 10.
What should I do if I think my child may have absence seizures?
If you think your child may be having absence seizures, talk to your child’s doctor about your concerns right away.Kids who have absence seizures aren’t usually in danger during a seizure. However, absence seizures may cause your child to:
- Have trouble learning at school
- Have social problems
- Misbehave more often
Focal (partial) seizures
This section is about symptoms of focal seizures that happen in the different lobes (areas) of your brain.
The temporal lobes are responsible for many functions. Some examples of these functions are hearing, speech, memory, and emotions.
Here are some common symptoms of focal seizures in the temporal lobes
Your frontal lobes are responsible for many different functions. These include movement, emotions, memory, language, and social and sexual behaviour. The frontal lobes are also considered to be home to your personality.
Not all frontal lobe seizures will be noticed by an onlooker. However, some frontal lobe seizures can look quite dramatic and unusual. Because of this it is common for them to be wrongly diagnosed as something other than epilepsy.
Here are some common symptoms of focal seizures in the frontal lobes
The parietal lobes are responsible for your bodily sensations. Focal seizures in this part of your brain cause strange physical feelings. A tingling or warm feeling down one side of your body is typical. These types of seizures are also known as ‘sensory’ seizures.
The occipital lobes are responsible for your vision. Focal seizures happening in this part of your brain affect the way you see things. Seeing flashes, or balls of light, or having brief loss of vision, are typical symptoms.
The warning can be very useful, as it may give you time to get to a place of safety, or to alert someone else that you are going to have a seizure. Sometimes, however, the epileptic activity spreads to both halves of your brain so quickly that you appear to go straight into a tonic-clonic seizure.
We can provide references and information on the source material we use to write our epilepsy advice and information pages. Please contact our Epilepsy Helpline by email at helpline@epilepsy.org.uk.
Focal (partial) seizures in the temporal lobes
Focal seizures starting in the temporal lobes are common.The temporal lobes are responsible for many functions. Some examples of these functions are hearing, speech, memory, and emotions.
Here are some common symptoms of focal seizures in the temporal lobes
- Flushing, sweating, going very pale, having a churning feeling in your stomach
- Seeing things as smaller or bigger than they really are
- Seeing or hearing something that is not actually happening
- Smelling non-existent smells
- Tasting non-existent tastes
- Feeling frightened, panicky, sad or happy
- Feeling detached from what is going on around you
- Feeling sick
- Having vivid memory ‘flashbacks’
- Having an intense feeling of ‘deja vu’, when you are convinced you have experienced something before – even when you haven’t
- Being unable to recognise things that are very familiar to you - sometimes referred to as ‘jamais vu’
- Chewing, smacking your lips, swallowing or scratching your head
- Fumbling with your buttons or removing items of your clothing
- Wandering off, without any awareness of what you are doing, or where you are going
Focal (partial) seizures in the frontal lobes
Focal seizures starting in the frontal lobes are common.Your frontal lobes are responsible for many different functions. These include movement, emotions, memory, language, and social and sexual behaviour. The frontal lobes are also considered to be home to your personality.
Not all frontal lobe seizures will be noticed by an onlooker. However, some frontal lobe seizures can look quite dramatic and unusual. Because of this it is common for them to be wrongly diagnosed as something other than epilepsy.
Here are some common symptoms of focal seizures in the frontal lobes
- Turning your head to one side
- Your arms or hands becoming stiff and drawing upwards
- Cycling movements of your legs
- Thrashing of your arms
- Carrying out strange and complicated body movements
- Having problems speaking or understanding
- Experiencing sexual feelings and showing sexual behaviour
- Screaming, swearing or crying out
- Losing control of your bladder and/or bowels
Jacksonian seizures
A particular type of frontal lobe seizure is a ‘Jacksonian’ seizure. This is usually brief and consists of jerking or trembling movement. These begin in a finger and then slowly march upwards to the whole hand and arm. Afterwards, there could be a short period of muscle weakness.Todd’s paralysis or Todd’s paresis
Following a focal seizure, particularly a frontal lobe seizure, some people have what is known as Todd’s paralysis or Todd’s paresis. This is paralysis, lasting from minutes to hours, in the area of your body that was involved in the seizure.Focal (partial) seizures in the parietal lobes
Focal seizures starting in the parietal lobes are uncommon.The parietal lobes are responsible for your bodily sensations. Focal seizures in this part of your brain cause strange physical feelings. A tingling or warm feeling down one side of your body is typical. These types of seizures are also known as ‘sensory’ seizures.
Focal (partial) seizures in the occipital lobes
Focal seizures starting in the occipital lobes are uncommon.The occipital lobes are responsible for your vision. Focal seizures happening in this part of your brain affect the way you see things. Seeing flashes, or balls of light, or having brief loss of vision, are typical symptoms.
Focal (partial) seizures progressing to generalised seizures
Some people have a warning - known as an aura - that they are about to have a tonic-clonic seizure. The warning is usually very brief and, if you have a warning, you tend to have the same warning every time. This warning is, in fact, epileptic activity in a part of your brain (a focal seizure). Once the epileptic activity spreads to both halves of your brain, you have a tonic-clonic seizure. If you have a warning, you tend to have the same warning every time. And the warning is usually brief.The warning can be very useful, as it may give you time to get to a place of safety, or to alert someone else that you are going to have a seizure. Sometimes, however, the epileptic activity spreads to both halves of your brain so quickly that you appear to go straight into a tonic-clonic seizure.
Pay it forward
This resource is freely available as part of Epilepsy Action’s commitment to improving life for all those affected by epilepsy.
On average it costs £414 to produce an advice and information page – if you have valued using this resource, please text FUTURE to 70500 to donate £3 towards the cost of our future work. Terms and conditions. Thank you
On average it costs £414 to produce an advice and information page – if you have valued using this resource, please text FUTURE to 70500 to donate £3 towards the cost of our future work. Terms and conditions. Thank you
We can provide references and information on the source material we use to write our epilepsy advice and information pages. Please contact our Epilepsy Helpline by email at helpline@epilepsy.org.uk.
Focal (partial) seizures
This section is about symptoms of focal seizures that happen in the different lobes (areas) of your brain.
The temporal lobes are responsible for many functions. Some examples of these functions are hearing, speech, memory, and emotions.
Here are some common symptoms of focal seizures in the temporal lobes
Your frontal lobes are responsible for many different functions. These include movement, emotions, memory, language, and social and sexual behaviour. The frontal lobes are also considered to be home to your personality.
Not all frontal lobe seizures will be noticed by an onlooker. However, some frontal lobe seizures can look quite dramatic and unusual. Because of this it is common for them to be wrongly diagnosed as something other than epilepsy.
Here are some common symptoms of focal seizures in the frontal lobes
The parietal lobes are responsible for your bodily sensations. Focal seizures in this part of your brain cause strange physical feelings. A tingling or warm feeling down one side of your body is typical. These types of seizures are also known as ‘sensory’ seizures.
The occipital lobes are responsible for your vision. Focal seizures happening in this part of your brain affect the way you see things. Seeing flashes, or balls of light, or having brief loss of vision, are typical symptoms.
The warning can be very useful, as it may give you time to get to a place of safety, or to alert someone else that you are going to have a seizure. Sometimes, however, the epileptic activity spreads to both halves of your brain so quickly that you appear to go straight into a tonic-clonic seizure.
We can provide references and information on the source material we use to write our epilepsy advice and information pages. Please contact our Epilepsy Helpline by email at helpline@epilepsy.org.uk.
Focal (partial) seizures in the temporal lobes
Focal seizures starting in the temporal lobes are common.The temporal lobes are responsible for many functions. Some examples of these functions are hearing, speech, memory, and emotions.
Here are some common symptoms of focal seizures in the temporal lobes
- Flushing, sweating, going very pale, having a churning feeling in your stomach
- Seeing things as smaller or bigger than they really are
- Seeing or hearing something that is not actually happening
- Smelling non-existent smells
- Tasting non-existent tastes
- Feeling frightened, panicky, sad or happy
- Feeling detached from what is going on around you
- Feeling sick
- Having vivid memory ‘flashbacks’
- Having an intense feeling of ‘deja vu’, when you are convinced you have experienced something before – even when you haven’t
- Being unable to recognise things that are very familiar to you - sometimes referred to as ‘jamais vu’
- Chewing, smacking your lips, swallowing or scratching your head
- Fumbling with your buttons or removing items of your clothing
- Wandering off, without any awareness of what you are doing, or where you are going
Focal (partial) seizures in the frontal lobes
Focal seizures starting in the frontal lobes are common.Your frontal lobes are responsible for many different functions. These include movement, emotions, memory, language, and social and sexual behaviour. The frontal lobes are also considered to be home to your personality.
Not all frontal lobe seizures will be noticed by an onlooker. However, some frontal lobe seizures can look quite dramatic and unusual. Because of this it is common for them to be wrongly diagnosed as something other than epilepsy.
Here are some common symptoms of focal seizures in the frontal lobes
- Turning your head to one side
- Your arms or hands becoming stiff and drawing upwards
- Cycling movements of your legs
- Thrashing of your arms
- Carrying out strange and complicated body movements
- Having problems speaking or understanding
- Experiencing sexual feelings and showing sexual behaviour
- Screaming, swearing or crying out
- Losing control of your bladder and/or bowels
Jacksonian seizures
A particular type of frontal lobe seizure is a ‘Jacksonian’ seizure. This is usually brief and consists of jerking or trembling movement. These begin in a finger and then slowly march upwards to the whole hand and arm. Afterwards, there could be a short period of muscle weakness.Todd’s paralysis or Todd’s paresis
Following a focal seizure, particularly a frontal lobe seizure, some people have what is known as Todd’s paralysis or Todd’s paresis. This is paralysis, lasting from minutes to hours, in the area of your body that was involved in the seizure.Focal (partial) seizures in the parietal lobes
Focal seizures starting in the parietal lobes are uncommon.The parietal lobes are responsible for your bodily sensations. Focal seizures in this part of your brain cause strange physical feelings. A tingling or warm feeling down one side of your body is typical. These types of seizures are also known as ‘sensory’ seizures.
Focal (partial) seizures in the occipital lobes
Focal seizures starting in the occipital lobes are uncommon.The occipital lobes are responsible for your vision. Focal seizures happening in this part of your brain affect the way you see things. Seeing flashes, or balls of light, or having brief loss of vision, are typical symptoms.
Focal (partial) seizures progressing to generalised seizures
Some people have a warning - known as an aura - that they are about to have a tonic-clonic seizure. The warning is usually very brief and, if you have a warning, you tend to have the same warning every time. This warning is, in fact, epileptic activity in a part of your brain (a focal seizure). Once the epileptic activity spreads to both halves of your brain, you have a tonic-clonic seizure. If you have a warning, you tend to have the same warning every time. And the warning is usually brief.The warning can be very useful, as it may give you time to get to a place of safety, or to alert someone else that you are going to have a seizure. Sometimes, however, the epileptic activity spreads to both halves of your brain so quickly that you appear to go straight into a tonic-clonic seizure.
Pay it forward
This resource is freely available as part of Epilepsy Action’s commitment to improving life for all those affected by epilepsy.
On average it costs £414 to produce an advice and information page – if you have valued using this resource, please text FUTURE to 70500 to donate £3 towards the cost of our future work. Terms and conditions. Thank you
On average it costs £414 to produce an advice and information page – if you have valued using this resource, please text FUTURE to 70500 to donate £3 towards the cost of our future work. Terms and conditions. Thank you
We can provide references and information on the source material we use to write our epilepsy advice and information pages. Please contact our Epilepsy Helpline by email at helpline@epilepsy.org.uk.
Example of an Electroencephalogram
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