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Definition

noun

A medical condition of recurrent partial seizures or psychomotor seizures, characterized by a temporary loss of consciousness, loss of memory of the episode, and sudden distorted emotions and behaviours.

Supplement

Since it is assumed to originate from a lesion in the temporal lobe of the brain, it is sometimes called as temporal lobe epilepsy. Symptoms include abnormal intense feeling of fear, joy, anger, etc., hallucinations, strong sense of deja vu, lip movements, and uncontrolled muscle contractions (rare).

Word origin: Ira Thompson Van Gieson, an American neurologist, psychiatrist, bacteriologist and neuropathologist, coined the term.

Synonym: temporal lobe epilepsy