Reflex Seizures - International League Against Epilepsy

[Zoe]

The link below is to a very in depth article on reflex epilepsy, seizures triggered by things such as light, reading, and yes, even thinking! It is a technical but has a lot of useful information. A quote from the article below:

In humans, studies in subjects sensitive to flashing light and to striped patterns have yielded important information about reflex seizure triggering which also has direct implications for patient care and for prevention of visually-induced seizures in daily life. These findings (reviewed by Binnie and Wilkins, 1998; Zifkin and Kasteleijn-Nolst Trenité, 2000) also have implications for our understanding of what are now thought of as generalized epilepsies. They can also be applied to other reflex epilepsies and seizures and may represent a common mechanism of reflex seizure genesis. Recruitment of a “critical mass” of epileptogenic cortex in response to the reflex seizure stimulus can result in epileptiform EEG activity or a clinical seizure. This recruitment can be understood as relatively direct in some, but in other cases may involve the participation and interaction of several cortical areas or of cortex and subcortical structures activated by the external trigger. Other factors may have the opposite effect, reducing the amount of involved cortex and the likelihood that a seizure will occur.

Link to full artcle:
http://www.ilae-epilepsy.org/Visitor...x_seizures.cfm

[hawke86]

Very interesting and helpful information.

[Zoe]

Very interesting and helpful information.

Right, Hawke. And once we start picking up on what triggers our seizures, we are in a better position to do something about it.