Sleep Disruption in Epilepsy: Ictal and Interictal Epileptic Activity Matter

Abstract

Sleep fragmentation in focal drug-resistant epilepsy is associated with ictal and interictal epileptic activity. The increase in interictal epileptic activity before arousals suggests its participation in sleep disruption. An additional increase in the spike rate during arousals may result from a sleep-wake boundary instability, suggesting a bidirectional relationship. ANN NEUROL 2020;88:907-920.