In mesial temporal lobe (MTL) epilepsy, which typically involves the hippocampus (HPC), epileptiform events are enhanced during slow wave sleep (SWS). It remains unclear how and why the electroencephalographic (EEG) states that constitute SWS might predispose the HPC to this type of pathological activity. Recently our laboratory has described a novel state of deactivated hippocampal EEG activit...

When near-threshold electrical stimulation is used to evoke epileptiform discharges in brain slices, a latent period of up to 150 msec elapses before the discharge begins. During this period most neurons are silent, and abnormal electrical activity is difficult to detect with microelectrodes. A fundamental question about epileptiform activity concerns how synchronous discharges arise abruptly i...

The optogenetic approach to gain control over neuronal excitability both in vitro and in vivo has emerged as a fascinating scientific tool to explore neuronal networks, but it also opens possibilities for developing novel treatment strategies for neurologic conditions. We have explored whether such an optogenetic approach using the light-driven halorhodopsin chloride pump from Natronomonas phar...

PURPOSE EEG studies based on adult populations report interictal epileptiform discharges (EDS) favour the left hemisphere. It is not clear when favouring becomes apparent as similar paediatric studies have not been performed. METHODS The authors reviewed 1,579 paediatric EEG interpretations for evidence of hemispheric favouring of focal epileptiform discharges. Analysis focused on first-time ...

Cesium has been widely used to study the roles of the hyperpolarization-activated (I(h)) and inwardly rectifying potassium (K(IR)) channels in many neuronal and nonneuronal cell types. Recently, extracellular application of cesium has been shown to produce epileptiform activity in brain slices, but the mechanisms for this are not known. It has been proposed that cesium blocks the K(IR) in glia,...

BACKGROUND Non-convulsive seizures have been reported to be common in neurocritical care patients. Many jurisdictions do not have sufficient resources to enable routine continuous electroencephalography (cEEG) and instead use primarily intermittent EEG, for which the diagnostic yield remains uncertain. Determining risk factors for epileptiform activity and seizures could help identify patients ...

Temporal lobe epilepsy is the most common form of partial-onset epilepsy and accounts for the majority of adult epilepsy cases in most countries. A critical role for the hippocampus (and to some extent amygdala) in the pathology of these epilepsies is clear, with selective removal of these regions almost as effective as temporal lobectomy in reducing subsequent seizure risk. However, there is d...

Pilocarpine, a muscarinic agonist, produces status epilepticus that is associated with the later development of chronic recurrent seizures. When applied to rat hippocampal slices, pilocarpine (10 microM) produced brief (<200 ms) epileptiform discharges that resembled interictal activity that occurs between seizures, as well as more prolonged synchronous neuronal activation that lasted seconds (...

The generation of prolonged neuronal activity depends on the maintenance of synaptic neurotransmitter pools. The astrocytic glutamate-glutamine cycle is a major mechanism for recycling the neurotransmitters GABA and glutamate. Here we tested the effect of disrupting the glutamate-glutamine cycle on two types of neuronal activity patterns in the thalamus: sleep-related spindles and epileptiform ...

how to cite this article: asadi-pooya aa, emami m. effects of antiepileptic drugs on electroencephalographic findings inpatients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy. iranian journal of child neurology 2011;5(4):33-36. objective several antiepileptic drugs (aeds) such as phenobarbital (pb), carbamazepine (cbz), and valproate (vpa) may suppress interictal epileptiform activity. we investigated t...