I didn't want to hijack Nancy's thread.
In response to your questions: To SaraPA: How was temporal lobe partial seizures diagnosed? What are symptoms? Trying to diag neuro problem in 12 y/o son.
My partial seizures were diagnosed when the problems stopped once I started on an anticonvulsant for my grand mal seizures. I could tell my son was having them when he was a toddler. I could see in his eyes that he wasn't there when he went into his rages. That was 21 years ago. To this day, when they occur, the duration is the same (45 minutes) and they are of a predictable pattern of onset, escalation, deescalation, recovery. He also has sensory hallucinations (sounds, odors, tastes) which last less than a minute. Neither of us have positive EEGs.
The temporal lobe controls things related to emotions and the senses. Some wayward electrical impulses flying through it can cause all sorts of behaviors and/or emotions. My son and a friend with TLE both experience paranoia as auras to their seizure activity. If the brain can do something, some wayward electrical impulse flying through that little part of the brain that controls that specific behavior/emotion can make the brain produce that behavior/emotion for no apparent reason. Anger without cause. Smelling things without odors. Contract or relax muscles.
With the current state of the science, the temporal lobe which is deep in the brain is difficult to read, even when seizure activity is occurring. It is estimated that the EEG fails to detect about 50% of temporal lobe epilepsy. That means diagnosis is pretty much made like all the disorders being discussed on this site, It's often based on observation, reporting, and response to medication.
In response to your questions: To SaraPA: How was temporal lobe partial seizures diagnosed? What are symptoms? Trying to diag neuro problem in 12 y/o son.
My partial seizures were diagnosed when the problems stopped once I started on an anticonvulsant for my grand mal seizures. I could tell my son was having them when he was a toddler. I could see in his eyes that he wasn't there when he went into his rages. That was 21 years ago. To this day, when they occur, the duration is the same (45 minutes) and they are of a predictable pattern of onset, escalation, deescalation, recovery. He also has sensory hallucinations (sounds, odors, tastes) which last less than a minute. Neither of us have positive EEGs.
The temporal lobe controls things related to emotions and the senses. Some wayward electrical impulses flying through it can cause all sorts of behaviors and/or emotions. My son and a friend with TLE both experience paranoia as auras to their seizure activity. If the brain can do something, some wayward electrical impulse flying through that little part of the brain that controls that specific behavior/emotion can make the brain produce that behavior/emotion for no apparent reason. Anger without cause. Smelling things without odors. Contract or relax muscles.
With the current state of the science, the temporal lobe which is deep in the brain is difficult to read, even when seizure activity is occurring. It is estimated that the EEG fails to detect about 50% of temporal lobe epilepsy. That means diagnosis is pretty much made like all the disorders being discussed on this site, It's often based on observation, reporting, and response to medication.