Most seizures occur suddenly and without warning.
Their analysis of 26 recordings taken 60 minutes before a seizure in 23 persons with temporal lobe epilepsy revealed that a measurement of non-linear changes in EEG signals allowed the anticipation of a seizure 7 minutes before it occurred, on average, in 25 of 26 recordings. The authors show that the ability to anticipate a seizure with a scalp EEG may have considerable practical implications for the large population of persons with uncontrolled epilepsy. Their method is quite moderate in cost, can be implemented in real time, and allows ambulatory application. This holds potential for clinical application, to warn persons at home or in a hospital setting. If proven reliable, this application could lower the medical consequences of seizures and improve the quality of life of people with epilepsy by decreasing the risk of injury and the sense of helplessness fostered by the unpredictability of seizures.