The relationship of sleep mechanisms and epileptogenesis

Abstract

Close links between epilepsy and sleep is doubtless; however, the available literature does not allow for its unequivocal interpretation from the common pathophysiological mechanisms' perspective. GABAergic neuronal deficiency is believed to be the neurochemical background of the intimate mechanisms of sleep and epileptogenesis. Sleep impacts the epileptiform activity, with an increase in epileptiform discharge during NREM and a decrease during REM phases. Sleep deprivation may complicate the course of epilepsy, while epileptic attacks may change the sleep structure and quality. Anti-epileptic agents exert diverse effects on the sleep architectonics; they can induce sedation or increase alertness. Our potential to correct the results of the pathological interplay between sleep mechanisms and epilepsy are rather limited and are frequently overestimated by clinicians. Investigation of the interrelationship between epileptic seizures and sleep and the use of polysomnography can substantially add to the diagnosis of the epileptic syndrome and define the subsequent outcomes.