Sleep enhances gamma oscillations in the seizure onset zone and broadband activity in the irritative zone of focal cortical dysplasia
Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) is a brain malformation that causes difficult-to-treat epilepsy, with patients experiencing seizures mainly during sleep. We studied electrical brain waves in 22 FCD patients using electrodes placed directly within or on the brain during pre-surgery evaluation. We compared brain wave activity between wake and sleep, focusing on fast brain waves. We found that fast brain waves, especially gamma waves, increased significantly during sleep in brain areas where seizures start, particularly in patients whose seizures occur mainly during sleep. These findings potentially help us better understand why seizures happen more often during sleep in FCD patients.
Authors
- Nicolas Roehri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6948-1055)
- Horst Urbach (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7264-4807)
- Victoria San Antonio‐Arce (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2780-6560)
- Matthias Dümpelmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1476-7777)
- Armin Brandt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5217-0325)
- Mohammad Farhan Khazali (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6701-6563)
- Theo Demerath (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5869-1110)
- Peter Christoph Reinacher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1691-546X)
- Yiwen Li Hegner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9960-6958)
- Soroush Doostkam
- Dirk‐Matthias Altenmüller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8610-2216)
- Nina Schwoon
- Marcel Heers
- Julia M. Nakagawa
- Andreas Schulze‐Bonhage
Institutions
- University of Geneva (CH)
- University of Freiburg (DE)
- University Medical Center Freiburg (DE)
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Freiburg (DE)
- Brain (Germany) (DE)
- Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (DE)
- Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research (DE)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Epilepsia Open
- Published
- 2026-01-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/epi4.70215
- Primary Topic
- Epilepsy research and treatment
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft