J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 1997; 9:420-428
Copyright © 1997 by American Neuropsychiatric Association
Auras and experiential responses arising in the temporal lobe
I Fried
Division of Neurosurgery, University of California-Los Angeles, School of Medicine 90095, USA.
Complex partial seizures and the auras that precede them are often
manifestations of localized temporal lobe activity. Auras, unlike complex
partial seizures, are reportable, since memory for them is retained.
Similar experiences can be elicited by local electrical stimulation of
mesial or lateral temporal cortex. Auras and "experiential phenomena"
arising in the temporal lobe reflect dissociation of human experience into
perceptual, mnemonic, and affective components, which in some cases can be
specifically localized. Auras often persist following medial temporal lobe
surgery, even when patients are rendered seizure-free. This suggests that
these auras, like formed memories, are widely distributed and may
eventually become consolidated in the neocortex.
