Abstract
PurposeTo review the mutual links of sleep and epilepsy.Recent FindingsIt is supported in several ways that epilepsy is ‘born’ in sleep and evolves as its ‘wilding’. At least twelve to thirty percent of seizures occur during non-rapid eyemovement (NREM) sleep and interictal epileptiform activity accumulates during NREM sleep, paralleling homeostatic power and sleep pressure. The imbalance of sleep-related synaptic plasticity carries the risk of over-excitation and epileptic derailment. This is seen in major epilepsies, where normal NREM sleep patterns are shown to transform to epileptic discharges. Epilepsies then ‘strike back’ to sleep impairing its structure and functions. The harm of seizures is obvious; and interictal discharges even in seizure free patients may bring insidious and permanent loss of cognitive functions.ConclusionSleep reveals the real face of epilepsy. Understanding the fine mechanisms of NREM sleep may lead to more effective epilepsy therapies and help reducing the harm of interictal activity as well.
Published Version
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