PURPOSE This study evaluated the relation of head and eye movements during ictal ipsilateral and contralateral head turning in patients with focal epilepsies with regard to lateralization of the epileptogenic zone. METHODS We reviewed our database and identified patients with ictal head turning ipsilateral and contralateral to the seizure onset as defined by ictal EEG. Twenty-seven seizures o...

PURPOSE The brain is a highly interconnected neuronal assembly in which network analyses can greatly enlarge our knowledge on seizure generation. The cortico-thalamo-cortical network is the brain-network of interest in absence epilepsy. Here, network synchronization is assessed in a genetic absence model during 5 s long pre-ictal->ictal transition periods. METHOD 16 male WAG/Rij rats were equ...

OBJECTIVE Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is the most common cause of mortality directly related to epilepsy. Its incidence is higher in adult patients and its pathophysiology remains poorly understood, but likely involves autonomic dysregulation following generalized tonic clonic seizures (GTCS). In the current study, we aimed to analyze post-ictal autonomic changes following GTCS ...

Identifying the epileptogenic zone (EZ) in patients with refractory nonlesional frontal lobe epilepsy is frequently challenging. Intracranial EEG (icEEG) recordings are often required to better delineate the EZ, but the presence of an extensive network of connections allowing rapid ictal spread may result in bilateral homologous regional (or extremely diffuse) electrical ictal patterns. Here, w...

PURPOSE Localizable scalp EEGs, during ictal episodes, appear to be rare in neocortical epileptic syndromes. However, studies based on large numbers of patients are also rare. This study aims to identify the characteristic patterns of variable neocortical epilepsies and to evaluate their clinical usefulness in the localization of epileptogenic focuses. METHODS We retrospectively assessed 394 ...

Activation of astrocytes by neuronal signals plays a central role in the control of neuronal activity-dependent blood flow changes in the normal brain. The cellular pathways that mediate neurovascular coupling in the epileptic brain remain, however, poorly defined. In a cortical slice model of epilepsy, we found that the ictal, seizure-like discharge, and only to a minor extent the interictal d...

We describe the case of a 12-year-old boy who developed temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with daily complex partial seizures (CPS) and monthly generalized seizures. Moreover, he frequently snored while asleep since early childhood. Polysomnography (PSG) revealed severe obstructive sleep apnea with apnea–hypopnea index (AHI) of 37.8/h. Video-PSG with simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) recordi...

Understanding the transition of brain activity towards an epileptic seizure, called pre-epileptic seizure, is a challenge in epilepsy. In this Letter, a recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) is proposed to describe dynamical characteristics of EEG (electroencephalograph) recordings on rat experiments, which is helpful to predict seizures. One of the advantages of this method does not require...

Heart rate changes are common in epileptic and non-epileptic seizures. Previous studies have not adequately assessed the contribution of motor activity on these changes nor have evaluated them during prolonged monitoring. We retrospectively evaluated 143 seizures and auras from 76 patients admitted for video EEG monitoring. The events were classified according to the degree of ictal motor activ...

We analyzed how the GABA(B) receptor agonist baclofen (10-50 microM) influences the activity induced by 4-aminopyridine (4-AP, 50 microM) in the CA3 area of hippocampal slices obtained from 12- to 25-day-old rats. Interictal and ictal discharges along with synchronous GABA-mediated potentials occurred spontaneously in the presence of 4-AP. Baclofen abolished interictal activity (n = 29 slices) ...