Neurologic Mechanism Concerned in Epileptic Seizures

Epileptic seizures consist essentially of symptoms belonging to three categories: (1) neurovegetative disturbances, i. e., disturbances in the sphere of interofective innervation; (2) loss of consciousness, and (3) changes in muscular tension, i. e., disturbances in the sphere of cerebrospinal, or exterofective, innervation. On the other hand, the evolution of the epileptic seizure consists of three phases: (1) the introductory phase preceding loss of consciousness, i. e., the phase of prodromes and auras; (2) the phase of the seizure proper, attended by loss of consciousness, and (3) the phase of recovery after the seizure. My purpose in this study was to integrate various phenomena of the epileptic seizure and, on the basis of the time relationship between various categories of paroxysmal symptoms, to explain the mechanism of epileptic seizures as a disturbance of one central reflex mechanism controlling the rhythm and rate of cerebral activity. INTRODUCTORY PHASE Neurovegetative disturbances are