The Harvey Cushing Institutes of Neuroscience offers comprehensive epilepsy centers and epilepsy programs with a multidisciplinary team of specialists who provide the highest quality of care. We strive to help them understand the disease, learn about the latest therapy options and make informed decisions about their treatment.

Seizures are caused by abnormal electrical discharges from brain cells, and epilepsy is a condition when seizures occur again and again. In epilepsy, the normal pattern of neuronal activity becomes disturbed, causing strange sensations, emotions and behavior or sometimes convulsions, muscle spasms and loss of consciousness. Epilepsy can arise from any number of brain function disorders that affect the nervous system. It affects one out of every 100 people.

Types

There are two types of seizures:

• Generalized seizures — Seizures that begin with an electrical discharge that involves both sides of the brain at the same time. The most common types of primary generalized seizures are absence seizures, atypical absence seizures, myoclonic seizures, atonic seizures, tonic seizures and tonic-clonic seizures.
• Partial seizures — There are two major types of partial seizures: simple partial seizures and complex partial seizures. After a complex partial seizure the patient's ability to respond to questions and remember the seizure episode is impaired.