Age at onset of epilepsy and aura sensations: Understanding aura sensations from the developmental viewpoint

Abstract

The temporal sequence of the age at onset of epilepsy in 274 patients with different aura sensations was examined. Cephalic sensation, elementary visual hallucination, anxiety aura, epigastric sensation, and feeling of derealization were associated with significantly earlier onset than déjà vécu, complex visual hallucination, thought disorder, ictal aphasia, complex auditory hallucination, experiential phenomena, and elementary auditory aura. Reassigning this sequence to the neocortical group and the limbic group separately, we confirmed the thesis of Taylor and Lochery that the onset of epilepsy is earlier in crude sensation than in elaborate sensation and found delay of the onset of epilepsy in auditory-related aura in comparison with visual aura.