Abstracts

Recent reports have highlighted the spectrum of cognitive and behavioral impairment in patients with benign focal epilepsies of childhood (BFEC). In this study, we asked whether motor control and adaptation might also be impaired in these patients. We assessed quantitatively the ability of 6 epileptic children diagnosed with BFEC (range, 7 to 11 years; mean [plusmn] SEM = 9 [plusmn] 0.1 years) and 30 age-matched normal children (range, 6 to 12 years; mean [plusmn] SEM = 9 [plusmn] 0.2 years) to perform arm movements in adaptation to novel force field constraints imposed by the Phantom Haptic Robot (PHR). The PHR is a commercially available device that allows investigators to precisely measure the trajectory and velocity of arm movements in the face of applied mechanical perturbations. Both motor performance and adaptation to perturbing force fields were significantly impaired in children with BFEC. Reaching distances (i.e., path lengths) were consistently longer in epileptic versus non-epileptic children (P [lt] 0.05), and epileptic children did not adapt as well as controls to a variable perturbing force (P [lt] 0.05). On the other hand, adaptive performance in epileptic children improved significantly with repeated exposure to a predictable force field. In addition to cognitive problems, patients with BFEC may exhibit impaired motor control and adaptation. Our results further support the notion that certain [quot]benign[quot] epilepsies are not truly benign and warrant more careful clinical assessment and need for intervention.