consciousness is lost. the sufferer can not interact with people or the environment around them and do not remember the seizure. often times it is hard to know that these are seizures. the person may look blank for a moment, have facial or other repeated twitching (for example, chewing) motions and sometimes will wander around or walk in circles -- these motions are called automatisms. speech may not be impaired, per se, but usually it will not make sense. these seizures usually only last a few seconds.