Narcolepsy often begins in childhood but is infrequently recognized, partly because of its many manifestations that can be confused with other conditions. The clinical presentations of excessive sleepiness, cataplexy, hallucinatory phenomena, and sleep paralysis (not always occurring together) are very varied. The picture may be further complicated by the occurrence of automatic behaviour,...
According to traditional neurophysiological theory, consciousness requires neocortical functioning, and children born without cerebral hemispheres necessarily remain indefinitely in a developmental vegetative state. Four children between 5 and 17 years old are reported with congenital brain malformations involving total or near-total absence of cerebral cortex but who, nevertheless, possessed...