Epileptic seizures have mystified people for thousands of years, appearing in the Bible numerous times as evidence of wicked spirits invading innocent human hosts. Though Jesus reportedly treated these cases with divine intervention, he failed to leave clinical guidelines, leaving modern clinicians to continue to be confounded by epilepsy.
An important factor when deciding what treatment option to offer an individual patient is knowing where in the brain the electrical storm is generated. Commonly EEG is used when a patient is experiencing a seizure to do this localization, but now researchers from University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic have shown that a high density EEG test immediately following a seizure offers similar ability. They used an EEG array of 76 electrodes (more than double the 32 usually used) to study 28 epileptic patients and discovered that the frontal lobe is a predominant source of the seizure during particularly severe episodes. The researchers hope the new technology will be adopted to help individual patients address the unique nature of their disease.
UM press announcement: University of Minnesota engineering researchers discover new non-invasive method for diagnosing epilepsy…
Abstract in journal Brain: Spectral and spatial shifts of post-ictal slow waves in temporal lobe seizures
Spectral and spatial shifts of post-ictal slow waves in temporal lobe seizures