Temporal Evolution: What is the Lesion?
| Temporal evolution | Likely cause |
|---|---|
| Instantaneous maximum deficit | Vascular/stroke, acute compression/trauma |
| Over seconds | Seizure (especially if stereotyped and recurrent) |
| Over minutes | Migraine, ‘amyloid spell’ |
| Over hours to days | Inflammatory (MS, GBS), infective |
| Over weeks to months | Neoplastic, chronic compression |
| Over months to years | Degenerative |