Some of the key readings were taken while the woman was in REM, or dream, sleep. These readings helped pinpoint the tumor as the focus of her seizures. The case study is published in the inaugural edition of the journal Sleep Medicine . The point to make is that the information we gained from the monitoring may have spared her from having to undergo more invasive brain monitoring procedures such as intracranial electrodes. Malow is lead author on the study.
Epilepsy is an abnormal electrical state of the brain in which neurons fire excessively.
In temporal lobe epilepsy, the seizures are caused by abnormal electrical discharges that are confined to a localized region on one side of the temporal lobe. On the other hand, REM sleep suppresses these discharges - called interictal epileptiform discharges. Recent studies at U-M and other medical centers have shown that REM sleep may also restrict the activity of these discharges to the region where the seizures are focused. Together, non-REM and REM sleep can help pinpoint areas of the brain where seizures begin. When she was 22 years old, an MRI indicated that she had a mass in her left temporal lobe.