失眠的认知行为治疗对失眠障碍患者睡眠质量和认知功能的影响

背景 失眠障碍已成为当前社会的一种常见疾病,失眠的认知行为治疗（CBTI）是失眠障碍的非药物治疗方法之一,其对失眠障碍患者睡眠质量和认知功能影响的研究有限。目的 探索CBTI对失眠障碍患者睡眠质量和认知功能的影响,为失眠障碍的非药物治疗提供参考。方法 选取2021年1月-2022年10月在四川省精神卫生中心就诊、符合《精神障碍诊断与统计手册（第5版）》（DSM-5）诊断标准的47例失眠障碍患者为研究对象。患者接受为期6周的CBTI治疗。治疗前,采用汉密尔顿抑郁量表24项（HAMD-24）和汉密尔顿焦虑量表（HAMA）评定患者的抑郁和焦虑症状,在治疗前及治疗6周后采用匹兹堡睡眠质量指数量表（PSQI）和蒙特利尔认知评估量表（MoCA）评定患者的睡眠情况和认知功能。采用Spearman相关分析考查治疗后失眠障碍患者PSQI总评分减分值与MoCA总评分增分值的相关性。结果 治疗6周后,失眠障碍患者PSQI的主观睡眠质量、入睡时间、睡眠时间、睡眠效率、睡眠障碍、日间功能障碍因子评分及PSQI总评分均低于治疗前,差异均有统计学意义（t=5.569~15.290,P均<0.01）,MoCA的视空间与执行功能、命名、注意力、语言能力、抽象思维、记忆力因子评分及总评分均高于治疗前,差异均有统计学意义（t=-11.273~-4.277,P均<0.01）。Spearman相关分析显示,经6周CBTI治疗后,失眠障碍患者PSQI总评分减分值与MoCA总评分增分值呈正相关（r=0.323,P=0.027）。结论 CBTI可能有助于改善失眠障碍患者的睡眠质量和认知功能。CBTI干预后,失眠障碍患者睡眠质量的提高可能与认知功能的改善存在一定的关联。     

伴中重度阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停低通气综合征的抑郁症患者多导睡眠监测特点

目的 探讨伴中重度阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停低通气综合征（OSAHS）的抑郁症患者多导睡眠监测（PSG）特点。方法 回顾性分析2017年12月-2019年10月在苏州市广济医院睡眠医学中心完成整夜多导睡眠监测（PSG）的门诊和住院患者以及健康体检人群,从中筛选出四组被试,分别为伴中重度OSAHS的抑郁症患者（n=31）、不伴OSAHS的抑郁症患者（n=79）、中重度OSAHS患者（n=96）和正常对照组（n=32）。比较四组被试睡眠进程相关指标（总睡眠时间、睡眠潜伏期、觉醒次数）和睡眠结构相关指标（N1、N2、N3期及REM期占总睡眠时间的比例,REM潜伏期、REM期持续时间）以及睡眠呼吸相关指标（氧减指数）等参数。结果 睡眠进程方面,四组被试总睡眠时间、睡眠潜伏期和觉醒次数差异均有统计学意义（F=2.874、3.959、12.291,P<0.05或0.01）。睡眠结构方面,四组被试N2期、N3期占总睡眠时间比例差异均有统计学意义（F=13.885、48.013,P均<0.01）;四组被试REM潜伏期、REM期持续时间、REM期占总睡眠时间比例差异均有统计学意义（F=41.492、11.827、10.552,P均<0.01）。睡眠呼吸相关指标方面,四组被试氧减指数差异有统计学意义（F=170.585,P<0.05）。结论 伴中重度OSAHS的抑郁症患者存在严重的睡眠进程和结构紊乱,同时伴有更频繁和更严重的呼吸相关事件。     

青少年抑郁障碍患者与双相情感障碍患者睡眠特征及其对自杀风险的影响

目的 比较青少年抑郁障碍患者和双相情感障碍患者睡眠结构特征的差异,探讨睡眠指标等因素对患者自杀风险的影响。方法 回顾性查阅广州医科大学附属脑科医院2019年1月1日-2021年6月30日符合《国际疾病分类（第10版）》（ICD-10）诊断标准的抑郁障碍（n=97）和双相情感障碍（n=52）住院青少年患者病历资料,收集患者的年龄、性别、体质量指数（BMI）、精神科诊断、自杀风险评估量表（NGASR）评分及多导睡眠监测（PSG）结果。根据NGASR评分结果,将患者分为两组：0~5分为自杀低风险组（n=32）,>5分为自杀高风险组（n=117）。以既往文献中80例正常青少年的PSG数据作为对照组资料。建立多元线性回归模型探讨青少年情感障碍患者自杀风险的影响因素。结果 自杀高风险组睡眠效率和N2期睡眠占比均低于自杀低风险组（Z=-2.138、-2.520,P均<0.05）。抑郁组总睡眠时间、N2期睡眠时间以及REM期睡眠时间均少于双相组（t=-2.822、-3.087、-2.277,P<0.05或0.01）;抑郁组和双相组REM期睡眠占比均低于对照组（t=-2.369、-2.069,P均<0.05）。线性回归分析显示,青少年情感障碍患者自杀风险的影响因素包括N1期睡眠时间（β=0.019,P<0.05）、性别（男性vs.女性,β=-4.051,P<0.01）以及诊断（双相情感障碍vs.抑郁障碍,β=-1.429,P<0.05）。结论 与青少年双相情感障碍患者相比,青少年抑郁障碍患者存在睡眠连续性差、浅睡眠更少的特点。N1期睡眠时间、女性以及诊断为抑郁障碍是青少年情感障碍患者自杀的影响因素。     

医学生偏头痛患者睡眠时间不足的发生率及影响因素分析

目的 调查医学生偏头痛患者睡眠时间不足的发生率及影响因素，为改善睡眠质量提供参考。方法 采用整群抽样方法，于2018年7月-2019年7月选取川北医学院在校医学生中符合《国际头痛疾病分类（第3版）》（ICHD-3）偏头痛诊断标准的546名患者为研究对象，并根据每夜睡眠时间是否>6 h分为睡眠时间充足组（n=367）与睡眠时间不足组（n=179）。收集医学生一般人口学资料及临床资料，采用匹兹堡睡眠质量指数量表（PSQI）评定睡眠情况，采用汉密尔顿焦虑量表（HAMA）和汉密尔顿抑郁量表24项版（HAMD-24）评定焦虑抑郁情况，采用视觉模拟评分法（VAS）和头痛影响测试量表（HIT-6）评定头痛严重程度及其对日常生活的影响。采用Logistic回归分析探索偏头痛患者睡眠时间不足的影响因素。结果 在546名医学生偏头痛患者中，有179人（32.78%）存在睡眠时间不足。睡眠时间不足组和睡眠时间充足组的年龄（t=2.107）、头痛频率（Z=-2.972）、焦虑状态（χ2=14.053）、抑郁状态（χ2=10.773）、PSQI评分（t=-13.247）及睡眠质量（χ2=94.754）差异均有统计学意义（P?0.05或0.01）。相关分析显示，偏头痛患者睡眠时间与年龄呈负相关（r=-0.100，P<0.01），与头痛频率、焦虑状态、抑郁状态呈正相关（r=0.135、0.169、0.139，P均<0.01）。多因素Logistic回归分析显示，年龄（OR=0.860，95% CI：0.743~0.996，P=0.045）、头痛频率（OR=1.051，95% CI：1.006~1.098，P=0.026）、抑郁状态（OR=1.712，95% CI：1.024~2.861，P=0.040）是医学生偏头痛患者睡眠时间不足的影响因素。结论 医学生偏头痛患者睡眠时间不足的发生率较高，头痛频率高和抑郁状态是其危险因素，年龄是保护因素。     

护士职业紧张、心理资本和失眠的关系：心理资本的中介作用

目的 探讨护士职业紧张、心理资本和失眠的关系,并检验心理资本在护士职业紧张与失眠之间的中介作用。方法 于2021年3月-5月,采用分层随机抽样法选取某三甲医院的810名护士为研究对象。采用付出-回报失衡问卷（ERI）、心理资本量表（PCQ）和阿森斯失眠量表（AIS）分别评定护士的职业紧张、心理资本和失眠情况,采用PROCESS中介效应检验分析心理资本在护士职业紧张与失眠之间的中介作用。结果 回收有效问卷658份（81.23%）,护士付出-回报比与AIS评分呈正相关（r=0.379,P?0.01）,与PCQ评分呈负相关（r=-0.275,P?0.01）;PCQ评分与AIS评分呈负相关（r=-0.402,P?0.01）。护士职业紧张可以负向预测心理资本（β=-11.024,t=-7.324,P<0.01）以及正向预测失眠（β=4.117,t=10.478,P<0.01）;心理资本可负向预测失眠（β=-0.087,t=-9.083,P<0.01）。当心理资本作为中介变量加入时,职业紧张对失眠的预测作用有统计学意义（β=3.158,t=8.185,P<0.01）。结论 心理资本在护士职业紧张和失眠之间起部分中介作用。     

基于赋能教育的家庭访视对居家康复精神分裂症患者精神病性症状、自我管理能力及幸福感的影响

目的 探讨基于赋能教育的家庭访视对居家康复精神分裂症患者精神病性症状、自我管理能力及幸福感的影响。方法 采用简单随机抽样法,于2021年1月-7月选取在宜宾市菜坝镇区域管理、符合《国际疾病分类（第10版）》（ICD-10）诊断标准、正在居家康复的精神分裂症患者87例为研究对象,按照随机数字表法分为试验组（n=43）和对照组（n=44）。两组均接受常规家庭访视,试验组在此基础上接受基于赋能教育的家庭访视,两组干预周期均为6个月。分别在干预前和干预后,采用简明精神病评定量表（BPRS）、精神分裂症患者自我管理量表（SSMIS）和幸福感指数量表（IWB）评定两组患者的精神病性症状严重程度、自我管理能力和幸福感。结果 干预后,组内比较显示,试验组BPRS评分低于干预前（t=4.550,P<0.01）,两组SSMIS评分均高于干预前（t=-17.107、-6.367,P均<0.01）,试验组IWB评分高于干预前（t=-9.239,P<0.01）;组间比较显示,试验组BPRS评分低于对照组,SSMIS和IWB评分均高于对照组（t=-3.899、10.564、9.690,P均<0.01）。结论 基于赋能教育的家庭访视可能有助于改善居家康复精神分裂症患者的精神病性症状,提高其自我管理能力及幸福感。     

基于结构方程模型探讨青少年睡眠质量与负性生活事件、应对方式的关系

目的 采用结构方程模型探讨青少年睡眠质量与负性生活事件、应对方式之间的关系,为改善青少年睡眠质量提供参考。方法 于2021年12月-2022年5月,选取重庆市3所中学767名初中生为研究对象,采用匹兹堡睡眠质量指数量表（PSQI）、青少年生活事件量表（ASLEC）和简易应对方式量表（SCSQ）评估青少年睡眠质量、负性生活事件以及应对方式。采用结构方程模型分析睡眠质量与负性生活事件、应对方式之间的关系。结果 检出存在睡眠障碍者222人（28.94%）,青少年PSQI评分与ASLEC评分、SCSQ消极应对维度评分均呈正相关（r=0.612、0.590,P均<0.01）,与积极应对维度评分呈负相关（r=-0.435,P<0.01）。构建负性生活事件、应对方式和睡眠质量关系的结构方程模型,结果显示,青少年负性生活事件对睡眠质量有直接和间接正向效应（β=0.448、0.322,P<0.05）,积极应对对睡眠质量有直接负向效应（β=-0.368,P<0.05）,消极应对对睡眠质量有直接正向效应（β=0.442,P<0.05）。结论 负性生活事件和消极应对对青少年睡眠质量产生负向影响,积极应对对青少年睡眠质量产生正向影响。     

正念疗法对老年患者非全身麻醉术后认知功能及睡眠质量的影响

背景 术后认知功能障碍（POCD）是术后常见的并发症之一,老年患者发病率较高。POCD对患者术后康复影响较大。目的 探讨正念疗法对老年患者非全身麻醉术后认知功能及睡眠质量的影响,为降低老年患者POCD发生风险、改善睡眠质量提供参考。方法 采用简单随机抽样法,选取2022年3月—2023年3月在绵阳市第三人民医院接受非全身麻醉手术的78例老年患者为研究对象,采用随机数字表法分为研究组和对照组各39例。两组均接受常规治疗及护理,研究组此基础上接受正念疗法干预。于术前1天以及术后第1、3、5天,采用简易精神状态量表（MMSE）评定患者的认知功能,于术前1天及术后第3天采用匹兹堡睡眠质量指数量表（PSQI）评定患者的睡眠质量。结果 两组MMSE评分的时间效应、组间效应以及时间与组间的交互效应均有统计学意义（F=78.251、197.071、371.915,P均<0.05）。进一步分析显示,术后第1、3、5天,研究组MMSE评分均高于对照组,差异均有统计学意义（t=-3.579、-1.764、-0.253,P均<0.05）。术后第1、3、5天,研究组POCD发生率均低于对照组,差异均有统计学意义（χ²=2.631、3.471、5.135,P均<0.05）。术后第3天,研究组PSQI总评分低于对照组（P<0.05）,且研究组PSQI总评分、睡眠潜伏期、主观睡眠质量、日间功能障碍以及催眠药物使用因子评分均低于术前（F=43.175、12.594、11.092、4.579、3.514,P均<0.01）。结论 正念疗法可能有助于降低老年患者非全身麻醉术POCD的发生率,并改善其睡眠质量。     

新冠肺炎疫情常态化防控下社区居民心理健康状况及相关因素

目的 调查在新冠肺炎疫情常态化防控下社区居民的心理健康状况并分析其相关因素。方法 本研究为横断面调查，采用滚雪球抽样法，于2020年8月28日-9月7日通过问卷星网络平台向居民发放调查问卷。采用患者健康问卷抑郁量表（PHQ-9）、广泛性焦虑量表（GAD-7）、失眠严重程度指数量表（ISI）及中文版知觉压力量表（CPSS）评估居民的心理健康状况。结果 476名居民抑郁、焦虑、失眠及高水平压力症状检出率分别为32.35%、21.22%、24.58%及48.74%。男性高水平压力症状检出率高于女性（χ²=5.269），未婚、离异或丧偶居民的抑郁及焦虑症状检出率均高于已婚居民（χ²=5.251、8.851），有心理服务需求的居民抑郁、焦虑、失眠及高水平压力症状检出率均高于无此需求的居民（χ²=46.316、66.934、20.153、21.576），差异均有统计学意义（P<0.05或0.01）。相关分析显示，社区居民年龄与CPSS评分呈负相关（r=-0.171，P<0.01），睡眠时间与PHQ-9、GAD-7及ISI评分均呈负相关（r=-0.210、-0.247、-0.297，P均<0.01），关注疫情信息时长与ISI评分呈负相关（r=-0.097，P<0.05）。结论 在疫情常态化防控下，居民的抑郁、焦虑、失眠及高水平压力症状仍较常见。男性和年轻居民更有可能出现高水平压力症状，睡眠时间短和有心理服务需求的居民更有可能出现抑郁、焦虑及失眠症状，关注疫情信息时长越短越有可能出现失眠症状。     

医学生焦虑、抑郁情绪对网络游戏障碍的影响：性别的调节作用

目的 探究焦虑、抑郁情绪对医学生网络游戏障碍的影响以及性别在其中的调节效应，为预防和干预医学生网络游戏障碍提供参考。方法 于2021年11月，选取四川省某医学院校11 771名医学生作为研究对象，通过问卷星网络平台，采用焦虑自评量表（SAS）、抑郁自评量表（SDS）和简式网络游戏障碍量表（IGDS9-SF）进行评定，采用多元分层回归分析性别在焦虑、抑郁情绪和网络游戏障碍关系中的调节作用。结果 ①男生SDS评分低于女生（t=-8.302，P<0.01），IGDS9-SF评分高于女生（t=33.384，P<0.01）。②医学生SAS评分与SDS评分呈正相关（r=0.735，P<0.01），SAS和SDS评分与IGDS9-SF评分均呈正相关（r=0.288、0.238，P均<0.01）。③焦虑、抑郁情绪可以正向预测网络游戏障碍（β=0.245、0.058，t=18.864、4.444，P均<0.01）。④性别在焦虑情绪与网络游戏障碍之间具有调节作用（β=-0.194，t=-4.518，P<0.01）。结论 焦虑、抑郁情绪对医学生网络游戏障碍有正向预测作用。焦虑情绪对医学生网络游戏障碍的影响受到性别的调节，相比于女生，焦虑情绪对男生网络游戏障碍的影响更大。     

Diagnostic Difficulties and Treatment Implications

Summary: Differentiation between types of epileptic seizures has been aided in recent years by the introduction of intensive neurodiagnostic techniques and the development of increasingly detailed classification systems. Paradoxically, these developments have not simplified the task of matching the appropriate antiepileptic drug to a particular seizure type. It is reasonable to assume that anticonvulsant drugs will have different effects on different types of seizures, but faulty, circular reasoning can enter the picture if one also assumes that responses of seizures to different drugs signify different seizure types. There are several examples of differential diagnoses that can fall prey to this problem, including the diagnosis between partial seizures with secondary generalization and generalized tonic-clonic seizures, and the diagnosis between complex partial seizures and absence seizures with automatisms, among others. Considerations of etiology in future classification systems can further complicate the problem: should one then choose an anticonvulsant drug on the basis of individual seizure type or on the basis of the type of epilepsy? Ramifications of this issue extend even to the drug approval process. Official sanction is not given for use of a drug for a seizure type not included in the original efficacy studies, even if later scientific evidence shows that seizure type to be related to a type that is included. New trials must be undertaken. These problems arise from how we choose to classify seizures.     

Cognitive Dysfunction Associated with Antiepileptic Drug Therapy

Summary: Epilepsy is frequently associated with cognitive dysfunction. However, the reasons for this correlation are unclear. Possible influential factors include patient age; duration, frequency, etiology, and type of seizures; hereditary factors; psychosocial issues; and antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy. Whereas many of these factors are beyond the physician's control, AED therapy is one element that can be addressed in treatment decisions by recognizing the potential cognitive effects of particular AEDs. For example, phenobarbital impairs memory and concentration; phenytoin affects attention, problem solving ability, and performance of visuomotor tasks. In contrast, carbamazepine may affect concentration, while valproate would appear to have minimal effects on cognition. Moreover, cognitive effects of AEDs are amplified with coadministration of multiple anticonvulsants (polytherapy). A review of studies on the cognitive effects of monotherapy with AEDs, as opposed to those of polytherapy, provides evidence that drug-related cognitive dysfunction can be reversed if patients are switched to a simpler therapeutic regimen. Future research should be directed toward developing reliable measures for assessing and monitoring cognition, and understanding the particular cognitive side effects of each AED. Physicians also need to revise their opinions about which side effects are "tolerable" for epileptic patients.     

Carbamazepine Efficacy in Adults With Partial and Generalized Tonic-Clonic Seizures

Summary: Carbamazepine and phenytoin are drugs of choice in initial monotherapy for adult partial and secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures. These designations reflect the results of the Veterans Administration Epilepsy Cooperative Study Group of 1985. An earlier comparative study of carbamazepine and phenytoin by Ramsay and associates found both drugs equally effective in controlling new-onset seizures. Among the advantages of carbamazepine is that it causes relatively few cognitive and dysmorphic side effects. Its disadvantages are its unavailability in parenteral formulation and its metabolic autoinduction. The latter must be compensated for by planned dosage increases to maintain therapeutic plasma steady-state levels during the first 2 or 3 months of treatment. Carbamazepine is judged a drug of choice in the treatment of these secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures, and the drug of choice in children, adolescents, and women susceptible to the dysmorphic side effects associated with other anticonvulsant agents.     

Etiologic and Preventive Aspects of Epilepsy in the Child–Bridging the Gap Between Laboratory and Clinic

Summary: Four broad categories of basic phenomena are pertinent to developing ways to prevent epilepsy. These include mechanisms of epileptogenesis, ictal initiation and temporary entrainment by the seizure discharge of normally functioning brain, seizure propagation, and control mechanisms that function both to restrain the cascade of epileptic events culminating in a seizure and to arrest the epileptic event and restore the interictal state. In newborns and children, hypoxia-ischemia is a major factor leading to epileptogenesis, and several schemes are proposed to classify, quantify, and prevent hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Control mechanisms must be better understood in order to develop prophylactic recommendations for epilepsy, and an experimental model of "kindling antagonism" may increase our understanding of these. Programs of prevention of seizures in children will evolve only if basic researchers and clinicians work productively together to develop an adequate understanding of factors important in epileptogenesis and antiepileptogenic control mechanisms.     

Epilepsy and anomalies of neuronal migration: MRI and clinical aspects

Neuronal migration disorders are the result of disturbed brain development. In such disorders, neurons are abnormally located. In diagnosing these conditions, magnetic resonance imaging is superior to any other imaging technique. This enables us to improve our knowledge of the clinical correlates of neuronal migration. With reference to migrational disorder, a retrospective study of all 303 patients with epileptic seizures referred for magnetic resonance imaging during a 3-year period was performed, 13 patients (aged 12-41, mean age 27) were identified. They represent 4.3% of the entire study group. Of the patients with known epilepsy, 6.7% and of the mentally retarded, 13.7% had migrational disorders. Four patients had schizencephaly as the dominant finding, one was classified as hemimegalencephaly, 2 had isolated heterotopias, and 6 had localized pachy- and/or poly-microgyria. The clinical pictures are complex. Ectopias of grey matter are recognised foci of epilepsy, but from an epileptological and a clinical viewpoint little attention has been given to these disorders. The present study shows that malmigration is not rare in epilepsy patients, especially not in the mentally retarded.     

Predisposing and Causative Factors in Childhood Epilepsy

Summary: We review information from large studies of defined populations, examining the role of known factors and especially of prenatal and perinatal factors in contributing to nonfebrile seizure disorders of early childhood. We depend especially, but not exclusively, on the recently completed analyses from the Collaborative Perinatal Project of the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, the NCPP. About 4% of children in the NCPP who had at least one non-febrile nonsymptomatic seizure by the age of 7 years had a previous seizure during acute neurologic illness, such as meningitis or during the acute illness after trauma. Many such seizures should potentially be preventable. Of children with seizures, 10% had had a neonatal seizure and 13% had had a febrile seizure. Among the hundreds of prenatal and perinatal factors explored as predictors of childhood seizure disorders, the principal predictors identified were congenital malformations of the fetus, cerebral and noncerebral; family history of certain neurologic disorders; and neonatal seizures. In agreement with the British National Child Development Study, labor and delivery factors in the NCPP appeared to contribute very little to childhood seizure disorders. Maldevelopment, rather than damage at birth to an initially intact nervous system, appeared to be the more common mechanism. Most seizure disorders of early childhood remained unexplained by the large set of prenatal and perinatal characteristics examined.     

Classification of methods in transcranial Electrical Stimulation (tES) and evolving strategy from historical approaches to contemporary innovations

Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (tES) encompasses all methods of non-invasive current application to the brain used in research and clinical practice. We present the first comprehensive and technical review, explaining the evolution of tES in both terminology and dosage over the past 100 years of research to present day. Current transcranial Pulsed Current Stimulation (tPCS) approaches such as Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation (CES) descended from Electrosleep (ES) through Cranial Electro-stimulation Therapy (CET), Transcerebral Electrotherapy (TCET), and NeuroElectric Therapy (NET) while others like Transcutaneous Cranial Electrical Stimulation (TCES) descended from Electroanesthesia (EA) through Limoge, and Interferential Stimulation. Prior to a contemporary resurgence in interest, variations of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation were explored intermittently, including Polarizing current, Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS), and Transcranial Micropolarization. The development of these approaches alongside Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) and pharmacological developments are considered. Both the roots and unique features of contemporary approaches such as transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) and transcranial Random Noise Stimulation (tRNS) are discussed. Trends and incremental developments in electrode montage and waveform spanning decades are presented leading to the present day. Commercial devices, seminal conferences, and regulatory decisions are noted. We conclude with six rules on how increasing medical and technological sophistication may now be leveraged for broader success and adoption of tES.     

Anticonvulsant Drugs and Cognitive Function: A Review of the Literature

Summary: Alterations of cognitive function are separate from disturbances of behavior seen in association with epilepsy. The nature of the cognitive disability may to a certain extent depend on the seizure type. Partial seizures, mainly derived from a temporal lobe focus, impair memory tasks, while generalized seizures seem to have more effect on attentional abilities. A number of studies, reviewed in this paper, suggest that anticonvulsant drugs further impair cognitive function. Maximal impairments are seen in patients receiving polytherapy: rationalization of polytherapy improves cognitive abilities. Studies in children and adults have allowed differentiation of the effects of various commonly used antiepileptic agents. Maximal cognitive deficits are seen with. phenytoin, while phenobarbital and sodium valproate induce moderate disturbances, and carbamazepine seems relatively free from such toxicity. Further research is needed on the interrelationship between types of seizure disorders, types of anticonvulsant medications, and cognitive function.     

Treatment Considerations in Anticonvulsant Monotherapy

Summary: The long-standing practice of polypharmacy in treating epilepsy is giving way to use of monotherapy. Monotherapy can improve seizure control as well as reduce the risk of serious idiosyncratic reactions, dose-related side effects, and complex drug interactions. Monotherapy also offers improved compliance and cost-effectiveness. The basis of monotherapy is accurate diagnosis and assessment of the patient's seizure type(s), followed by selection of a single appropriate anticonvulsant drug. Many patients currently treated with multiple anticonvulsants can be successfully converted to monotherapy with a carefully monitored program in which troublesome and redundant drugs are gradually withdrawn from the therapeutic regimen.     

Effects of NMD A- and AMPA-Receptor Antagonists on Different Forms of Epileptiform Activity in Rat Temporal Cortex Slices

Summary: Lowering extracellular magnesium induces different patterns of epileptiform activity in rat hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. Short recurrent epileptiform discharges in the hippocampus are stable over time, whereas seizurelike events (SLEs) in the entorhinal cortex, the subiculum, and the neighboring neocortex develop into late recurrent discharges which are not blocked by clinically employed antiepileptic drugs. We tested the sensitivity of the different epileptiform discharge patterns to. /V-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)- and non-NMDA-receptor antagonists. As NMDA-receptor antagonist we used dextrorphan, ket-amine, and 2-aminophosphonovalerate (2APV); as α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionic acid (AMPA)-receptor antagonist we employed the quinoxaline derivative glutamate 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX). The findings show that the different patterns of epileptiform activity, including the late recurrent discharges, are sensitive to all NMDA-receptor antagonists. However, when dextrorphan was employed to suppress seizure-like events, later recurrent discharges did not develop during the remaining time course of the experiment. CNQX reversibly suppressed recurrent discharges in the hippocampus and SLEs in the entorhinal cortex. However, late recurrent discharges become insensitive to CNQX, even at a high concentration of 60 μM m. This finding suggests a prominent role for NMDA receptors in the generation of late recurrent discharges.