The other major types of epilepsy namely the acquired forms are more related to brain injury of one type or another. But even here there seems to be a small component of inherited liability or tendency. For instance family memebers of some of these patients may have a tendency to seizures. There are several types of epilepsy which occur in children or babies which have a substantial inheritance factor. Myoclonic epilepsies are those with myoclonus as part of the picture.
Myoclonus consists of single jerks of any part of the body.
Several of these are inherited in that the underlying disorder is inherited and is a disturbance of some chemical process in the cells. The cells degenerate and seizures are part of the picture especially myoclonus. Of course there are types of myoclonus that are not epileptic or even abnormal. For instance, hiccup is a kind of myoclonus and so are the jerks that occur in normal people on falling asleep . On the other hand seizures are often precipitated or triggered by loss of sleep.