Partial seizures

Partial seizures involve epileptic activity in just a part of the brain. They can be divided into simple partial and complex partial. In a simple partial seizure you are fully conscious. You remain fully aware of your surroundings. However this does not mean that you are able to stop or control the symptoms.

In a complex partial seizure you partly lose consciousness and you are not aware of what you are doing. Because of this, you may not remember the seizure afterwards, or your memory of it will be unclear.

The symptoms that you experience depend on which area of your brain is affected by epileptic activity.

The areas of the brain

• The temporal lobes – responsible for many functions, including hearing, speech, smell, memory and emotions
• The frontal lobes – responsible for many functions, including movement, emotions, memory, language, social behaviour and sexual behaviour. They are also considered to be home to our personality.
• The parietal lobes – deal with our bodily sensations.
• The occipital lobes – responsible for our vision and how we see things.

Follow these links for more detailed information about different types of partial seizure.

• Temporal lobe seizures
• Frontal lobe seizures
• Parietal seizures
• Occipital lobe seizures

Todd’s paralysis or Todd’s paresis

Rarely, following a partial epileptic seizure, it is possible to experience temporary paralysis in the area of the body that was involved in the seizure. This can last from minutes to hours.