Brain Mechanisms Linking Sleep and Epilepsy

A strong link between epileptic seizures and sleep as been known since the first observations of nocturnal seizures during the time of Hippocrates and Aristotle. The very existence of epileptic syndromes and conditions accompanied by either almost exclusive (e.g. Autosomal dominant nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy, Rolandic epilepsy, Electrical status epilepticus during sleep) or increased (Landau-Kleffner syndrome, Early-onset benign childhood occipital epilepsy, Frontal lobe epilepsy) ictal and interictal manifestations during sleep, as well as epileptic disorders with seizures upon awakening (e.g. Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, Epilepsy with grad mal seizures on awakening), highly suggest that the neuronal substrate of the sleep-wake cycle acts as a modulator of epileptic activity expression. However, the fact that sleep's modulation property is expressed in a variety of neurophysiological phenotypes, as well as in both symptomatic and idiopathic syndromes of epilepsy, suggests that the link between sleep and epilepsy is more likely to be a constellation of dynamic interactions rather that a single entity.

Understanding the basic neurophysiology of sleep, as well as the behavior of epileptogenic networks during sleep, is important not only in approaching the constellation of mechanisms that link sleep with epilepsy, but more importantly to improve the diagnostic procedures and subsequently refine treatment options for epilepsy patients. The advances in neurophysiology and neuroimaging techniques applied in both research and clinical settings are opening up possibilities to make exciting research contributions with direct clinical impact.

This Research Topic aims to bring together neurophysiology and neuroimaging research perspectives that contribute to our understanding of the sleep-epilepsy relationship. We welcome submissions from all related areas of research - original works, opinions and methods.