You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
The etiology of idiopathic epilepsy eludes identification. The epileptic attack is a recurrent transitory paroxysmal cerebral dysrhythmia that concurs with changes of consciousness, and often also with motor and sensory phenomena. Either organic or functional factors cause an unusual connectivity between special sets of intracerebral neurons. Clinically, this manifests itself as abnormal tendency for recurrent volleys of synchronous electrical discharges in the electroencephalogram (Fig. 1). Comparable electrical