Since the advent of intensive care units the number of cases of posthypoxic action or intention myoclonus has greatly increased. This has given rise to renewed research into the physiopathology and therapy of the disease. The latent effective treatment is based on derivatives of benzodiazepine, and especially L-5-hydroxytryptophan, administered with or without an inhibitor of peripheral decarboxylase. The disadvantages of these compounds, associated with their secondary effects, make our fortuitous discovery of the effectively curative action of piracetam doubly valuable.