The actual seizure usually lasts less than a minute and is followed by confusion and amnesia for a variable period with recovery gradually occurring. Mesial temporal lobe seizures start deep within the brain so EEGs done between seizures are typically normal. These seizures usually start with a rising sensation in the abdomen, nausea with autonomic signs and psychic symptoms following. The seizure can then move to involve the medial temporal lobe, occipital lobe or parietal lobe with onset of corresponding symptoms referable to these areas of the brain. Because the memory circuits originate in the temporal lobe, repeated seizure activity which involves these structures can cause difficulties with memory and intellectual function.
Secondary generalization is common and rapid.
Simple partial seizures can also occur. The seizures contain a prominent motor component which is either postural or tonic. Given the complex nature of these seizures, they are not uncommonly mistaken for psychogenic seizures. The constellation of signs and symptoms which occur as the seizure starts and progresses offer clues to the site of origin of the seizure. The seizures take their name for the area of the frontal lobe from which they arise.