Educational problems related to quantitative EEG changes in benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes.

Abstract

The relationship between educational problems and clinical/electroencephalographic aspects was assessed in 38 children with benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS). Children were assessed using the School Performance Test; questionnaires on learning difficulties administered to parents and teachers; the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Third Edition; and EEGs. Absolute and relative amplitudes in the classic bands (quantitative EEG) and characteristics of epileptiform activity on the EEG were examined. Educational problems were observed in 7 (18.4%) children with BECTS. In this subgroup, relative alpha amplitudes at the central and parietal electrodes were lower as compared with those of the BECTS subgroup with normal educational performance and a control group matched for age, gender, and socioeconomic status. The data indicated a possible relationship between alterations in background brain electrical activity and the tendency toward inferior educational performance in children with BECTS. This study suggested that quantitative EEGs are a possible physiological tool in the assessment of cognitive aspects in children with BECTS.

• Authors: Glória M A S Tedrus, Lineu C Fonseca, Elisa M V Melo, Valeria L Ximenes
• Journal: Epilepsy & behavior : E&B (Epilepsy Behav) Vol. 15 Issue 4 Pg. 486-90 (Aug 2009) ISSN: 1525-5069 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 19631587 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Topics

• Child
• Data Interpretation, Statistical
• Education
• Educational Status
• Electroencephalography
• Epilepsy, Rolandic (physiopathology, psychology)
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Neuropsychological Tests
• Parents
• Socioeconomic Factors
• Surveys and Questionnaires
• Wechsler Scales