Autism- Epilepsy Connection Explored in Four Studies

21st April, 2015

News of the Week, Newsletter 24 April 2015

[Source: Science Daily]
sciencedaily

Epilepsy affects nearly 30 percent of all people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a neurobehavioral condition marked by impaired social and language development. Conversely, many patients with epilepsy display ASD-like behavior. Recent studies suggest that epileptic seizures impair the neural pathways needed for socialization, but the details of this process remain unclear.

Four studies presented at the American Epilepsy Society’s recent Annual Meeting delve deeper into this relationship, revealing biological mechanisms and clinical findings that could help advance treatments for patients with both disorders.
Jennifer Avallone, DO, and colleagues retrospectively examined the video EEG findings and clinical records of 53 children and adults diagnosed with both epilepsy and ASD. The authors uncovered abnormal video EEG findings in 50 of the 53 records studied. Clinical and EEG records indicated that 40% of the patients had focal epilepsy, 30% had
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