[The stereo-electroencephalographic correlate of psychical seizures (author's transl)]

During stereo-EEG on drug resistant epileptic patients "psychical seizures" such as illusions, hallucinations, strange emotions and disturbances of thinking were observed. The depth recordings of the presented cases reveal the epileptic nature of these psychic phenomena. Elementary illusions and hallucinations can often be correlated with circumscribed discharges in cortical representation areas. Larger areas of the temporal lobe are found to be involved regularly in the more complex hallucinations. Emotional changes are strongly linked to the limbic system whereas "intellectual auras" or other disturbances of thinking are attributed to paroxystic dysfunctions of mainly frontal areas. The discussion deals with the relationship between psychomotor epilepsy and psychosis as well as the relationship between the frequency of seizures and psychic and/or behavioral disturbances. In this context a possible explanation of the so-called "forced normalization" of the EEG is given.