Musicogenic Epilepsy: Clinical Features, Pathophysiology, and Review of Literature

Abstract

AbstractMusicogenic epilepsy is a special type of reflex epilepsy characterized by recurring seizures in response to hearing-specific musical triggers. Clinical features include focal dyscognitive seizures with typical temporal lobe semiology, normal structural brain imaging, functional imaging abnormalities in wide regions of the brain responsible for emotional and musical processing, variable locations of seizure onset within the temporal lobe, and in refractory cases good response to surgery. Musicogenic epilepsy is poorly understood from a pathophysiological standpoint and thus reflects the complexity of brain networks responsible for auditory, emotional, and cognitive functions.