Epilepsy & Behavior最新文献

Background: A range of language impairments have been reported in people with epilepsy both pre- and post-surgically, however language is not routinely comprehensively assessed in epilepsy clinics. When language is assessed, this is typically as part of a broader neuropsychological battery of assessment, often limited to tests of noun naming and/or verbal fluency, despite evidence to suggest these tests are not sufficiently sensitive to detect the often-subtle deficits present in chronic focal epilepsy. Many areas of language function, including the production of connected speech, have also not been adequately explored in this population, and research relating to subjective report of language and communication difficulties is limited. A more comprehensive assessment of language, which includes patient report, is required to determine the presence and extent of language impairment in people with focal epilepsy.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to systematically investigate the prevalence and pattern of language impairment in a group of people with chronic focal epilepsy using a comprehensive aphasia battery and a patient reported outcome measure.

Method: Language skills were assessed in 26 right-handed people with chronic focal epilepsy using the Comprehensive Aphasia test (CAT), in addition to standard clinical assessments of noun naming and verbal fluency. Participants' self-report of their language and communication skills was also collected, using the La Trobe Communication Questionnaire (LCQ).

Outcomes and results: 85% of participants with focal epilepsy were impaired on one or more language subtests of the CAT. In contrast, only 15% of participants were impaired on tests of confrontation noun naming, and none were impaired on a test of verbal fluency. The CAT findings were supported by subjective data, with 82% of participants self-reporting a communication difficulty.

Conclusions: Our results show that current approaches to language assessment are inadequate for identifying language impairments in people with focal epilepsy, and likely underestimate the prevalence of language impairment in this population. In particular, verb naming and picture description subtests revealed deficits across the majority of the sample, highlighting the need for more comprehensive assessment of language to be routinely conducted in this population.

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the similarity, readability, and alignment with current scientific knowledge of responses from AI-based chatbots to common questions about epilepsy and physical exercise.

Methods: Four AI chatbots (ChatGPT-3.5,ChatGPT 4, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot) were evaluated. Fourteen questions on epilepsy and physical exercise were designed to compare the platforms. Lexical similarity, response patterns, and thematic content were analyzed. Readability was measured using the Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level scores. Seven experts rated the quality of responses on a Likert scale from "very poor" to "very good."

Results: The responses showed lexical similarity, with approaches to physical exercise ranging from conservative to holistic. Microsoft Copilot scored the highest on the Flesch Reading Ease scale (48.42 ± 13.71), while ChatGPT-3.5 scored the lowest (23.84 ± 8.19). All responses were generally rated as difficult to read. Quality ratings ranged from "Good" to "Acceptable," with ChatGPT 4 being the preferred platform, chosen by 48.98 % of reviewers.

Conclusion: The findings highlight the potential of AI chatbots as useful sources of information on epilepsy and physical exercise. However, simplifying language and tailoring content to user's needs is essential to enhance their effectiveness.

The "Mozart effect" in epilepsy was first identified by Hughes et al. in 1998. In their treatment of 29 (ages 3-47) patients with epilepsy, including children, the patients showed a significant reduction in epileptic activity on the EEG while listening to "Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos K.448" (Hereafter referred to as "Mozart's K.448"), a phenomenon that has come to be known as the "Mozart effect" of epilepsy. For more than 26 years now this unique and valuable finding has attracted increasing attention and research. This review aims to examine and discuss the relevant literature on the "Mozart effect" and to further explore the adjunctive therapeutic effects of the "Mozart effect" in patients with epilepsy. While reviewing the research, we were surprised to find that no one has ever analyzed the unique organization of Mozart's K.448 score based on music theory, and that research on the underlying musical mechanisms of Mozart's K.448 is still stuck on Hughe's "hypotheses" and "computer analyses" from 26 years ago, this is a regrettable research gap. Therefore, this paper attempts to fill this gap and analyze the unique organizational structure of Mozart's K448 music score from the perspective of music specialty for the first time. We selected three musical segments from the beginning of the piano performance to the 300-second and 30-second piano scores to analyze the internal structure of Mozart's K.448, our analysis results verify that Hughe's hypothesis that Mozart's k.448 has "periodic repetition" is reasonable, thus supplementing the research on the potential musical mechanism of Mozart effect.