Neuronal connectivity in self-limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes

ICNC2024
Symposia: Epilepsy As A Brain Network Disease: Implications For The Clinician

Neuronal connectivity in self-limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes
Sanem Yılmaz

About Topic:
The most common type of focal epilepsy in children is self-limited epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes (SeLECTS). Because of its brief, infrequent nighttime seizures, it was initially classified as benign. However, the term "benign" is no longer used because 15-30% of affected children develop neuropsychological impairment, particularly in the domains of language, cognitive, memory, and attention, the pathophysiological mechanisms of which remain unknown. In SeLECTS, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies suggests the presence of subtle neurodevelopmental changes in the epileptogenic zone and distant regions. This structural reorganization most likely occurs prior to diagnosis and evolves over time, particularly in patients with cognitive impairment, implying that epileptogenic processes may interfere with brain dynamics during a critical period of development and/or normal maturation processes. Functional brain imaging reveals profound disorganization in the epileptogenic zone. The network disorganizations may play a central and causal role in the neuropsychological impairment described in SeLECTS.

Other Lectures in this Symposium:
Epilepsy as a network disease
Neuronal connectivity in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex and related mTORopathies.
Brain connectivity with EEG and neuroradiologic modalities in developmental epileptic encephalopathy with spike-and-wave activation in sleep