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Photosensitivity in Epilepsy Syndromes: Age Differences?

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The Importance of Photosensitivity for Epilepsy

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Abstract

The presence of paroxysmal abnormalities of brain electrical activity provoked by intermittent photic stimulation, is an age-dependent EEG pattern usually first seen in childhood and adolescence. Indirect evidence suggests that this maps onto the time-course of the maturation of excitatory and inhibitory brain systems. Recent studies have confirmed the role of abnormal gating mechanisms in the abnormal susceptibility of the posterior cortex to visual stimuli in young patients with photosensitive epilepsy. Similarly, the later maturation of the parvocellular systems which has been associated with the photoparoxysmal EEG response might account for the low prevalence of photosensitivity in the very young patients. From the clinical perspective, while photosensitivity has a preferential onset in pediatric age, it tends to persist in adulthood, with two-thirds of the patients continuing to show the EEG trait even though 85% of them will no longer experience overt clinical seizures. The data presented in this chapter give an account of the role of maturational progression in the manifestations of photosensitivity at mesoscopic level and their integration with genetic data might provide a clearer account of the variability in genotype/phenotype association seen in photosensitive patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK

    Stefano Seri & Bryony Carr

  2. Aston Brain Centre, School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, UK

    Stefano Seri

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze e Biotecnologie Medico Chirurgiche, Sapienza Università di Roma Polo Pontino, Rome, Italy

    Antonella Cerquiglini

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  1. Stefano Seri
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Correspondence to Stefano Seri .

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  1. Department of Neurosurgery and Epilepsy, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Dorothee Kasteleijn-Nolst Trenite

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Seri, S., Carr, B., Cerquiglini, A. (2021). Photosensitivity in Epilepsy Syndromes: Age Differences?. In: Kasteleijn-Nolst Trenite, D. (eds) The Importance of Photosensitivity for Epilepsy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05080-5_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05080-5_22

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