Epilepsy Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Epilepsy, including details on symptoms, causes, treatment, drugs, information.

Do interictal spikes drive epileptogenesis?

Staley K, Hellier JL, Dudek FE

Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology, University of Colorado, School of Medicine, Denver, CO 80262, USA. Staley@uchsc.edu

Interictal spikes are periodic, very brief bursts of neuronal activity that are observed in the electroencephalogram of patients with chronic epilepsy. These spikes are useful diagnostically, but we do not know why they are so strongly associated with the spontaneous seizures that characterize chronic epilepsy. Interictal spikes appear before the first spontaneous seizures in animal models of acquired epilepsy, and spikes are sufficient to induce long-term changes in synaptic connections between neurons. Thus, spikes may guide the development of the neuronal circuits that initiate spontaneous seizures. If so, then attempts to prevent or cure epilepsy may best be directed at spikes rather than seizures.

Published 2 August 2005 in Neuroscientist, 11(4): 272-6.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Epilepsy Research Today. All Rights Reserved.