Chapter 1 - Introductory Considerations

Abstract

Experimental research has proven that the spike-wake pattern of absence epilepsy and the NREM sleep-related burst-firing mode of the cortico-thalamic system share the same functional structures in the brain. Clinical research has shown that absences occur when the vigilance decreases, during transitions from waking to NREM sleep; whereas they are inhibited by full wakefulness and REM sleep. Those sensory stimuli which elicit slow wave responses during the transition states (reactive slow waves, i.e. CAP A1 phase) may activate spike wave responses, while those eliciting desynchronization-arousal responses, do not.