Reflex Epilepsies: progress in understanding

Book excerpt: Reflex epilepsies can provide a qualitative and quantitative viewpoint of the complexities of ictogenesis. The various chapters in this book examine the factors that can trigger a seizure, such as hot water, food, contact and movement, music and emotions. The relationship between several reflex epilepsy mechanisms and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy is discussed along with the significance of their occurrence in syndromes, enhancing our understanding of current epilepsy nosology. The conventional dichotomy appears outdated, while functional studies of trigger mechanisms are moving more towards central nervous system subsets acting as pathological networks that produce seizures in generalized and focal epilepsies.