What happens to the brain and body during a complex partial seizure?

What happens to the brain and body during a complex partial seizure?

Charles Ribak, Ph.D. (Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology, UC Irvine School of Medicine) gives expert video advice on: What triggers a complex partial seizure?; What are the dangers of complex partial seizures?; What do I do if I see someone having a complex partial seizure? and more...

Complex partial seizures may actually start out first with some automatisms. Automatisms are uncontrolled, automatic movements. Lip smacking is one of them, as is moving the hand in a very funny manner. These automatisms often occur at the beginning of the complex partial seizure, and then usually the complex partial seizures will generalize. We'll have tonic and clonic aspects to the seizure that we discussed for some of the other seizures early on.