A 29-year-old woman presents to the neurology clinic with episodes of “spacing out” for the past five years. She describes experiencing a sudden sense of déjà vu followed by an odd rising sensation in her stomach. During these episodes, she does not respond to others and makes repetitive lip-smacking movements. Her coworkers have noticed that after these episodes, she appears confused for several minutes. MRI shows hippocampal atrophy and hyperintensity in the left mesial temporal lobe. Which of the following findings is most characteristic of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE)?
