psy: Seizure

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

A seizure is a sudden disruption of brain activity caused by excessive, synchronized neuronal firing that results in changes in behavior. This neurological condition is common, affecting approximately 50 million individuals around the world. Depending on the regions of the brain involved, seizures can lead to changes in movement, sensation, behavior, awareness, or consciousness. Symptoms vary widely. Some seizures involve subtle changes, such as brief lapses in attention or awareness (as seen in absence seizures), while others cause generalized convulsions with loss of consciousness (tonic–clonic seizures). Most seizures last less than two minutes and are followed by a postictal period of c…

Evidence: 55 • authority: 72

Evidence: 55 • authority: 72

In the field of neurology, seizure types refer to clinically and electrographically defined categories of seizures, based on observable features, underlying mechanisms, and diagnostic findings. A seizure is a paroxysmal episode of altered behavior, sensation, awareness, or autonomic function resulting from abnormal, excessive, or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Distinguishing between seizure types is important because different types of seizures may have different causes, outcomes, and treatments. The International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) is the primary body responsible for defining seizure classifications, and the most recent system was published in 2025.

Evidence: 41 • authority: 72

Consciousness is being aware of something internal to one's self, or of states or objects in one's external environment. It has been the topic of extensive explanations, analyses, and debate among philosophers, scientists, and theologians for millennia. There is no consensus on what exactly needs to be studied, or whether consciousness can be considered a scientific concept. In some explanations it is synonymous with mind, while in others it is considered an aspect of it. In the past, consciousness meant one's "inner life": the world of introspection, private thought, imagination, and volition. Today, it often includes various forms of cognition, experience, feeling, or perception. It may b…

Evidence: 41 • authority: 80

Chapter II. Functional Organization of the Human Brain, Discriminative Sensation, Voluntary Movement