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Epilepsy, complex partial

epileptic seizures that are episodic changes in behaviour in which an individual loses conscious contact with the environment. The onset of such seizures involves any of a variety of auras: deja-vu, an unusual smell, a sudden intense emotional feeling, a sensory illusion such as micropsia (objects growing smaller) or macropsia (objects growing larger), or other sensory hallucination. There may be a cessation of activity with some minor motor activity such as lip smacking, walking aimlessly, or other automatisms. The seizures may also be accompanied by the unconscious performance of highly skilled activities such as driving a car. When the seizure ends, the individual is amnesic for events that took place during the seizure and may take minutes or hours to recover fully to consciousness.