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• Children with self-limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes show developmental delays in the neuromagnetic activity of the language brain regions. • Self-limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes with and without language deficits, as for healthy controls, show different levels of development. • Children with inferior speech comprehension had more seizures and localization of epileptiform discharges on the left side. Children with self-limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (SeLECTS) typically indicate cognitive impairment with widespread speech impairment. We explored how epilepsy affects language-related brain areas and areas in their vicinity. Twenty-two children with SeLECTS and declined verbal comprehension (DVC), 21 with SeLECTS and normal verbal comprehension (NVC), and 23 healthy controls (HCs) underwent high-sampling magnetoencephalography recordings. According to a previous study, 24 language-related regions of interest were selected bilaterally, and the relative spectral power was estimated using a minimum norm estimate. The highest mean power spectral density was observed in the delta band for the DVC group, in the theta band for the NVC group, and in the alpha band for HCs within language-specific brain regions. The distinctions between the DVC and NVC groups in the delta and theta frequency bands were primarily concentrated in the right linguistic brain area. Children with SeLECTS may have developmental problems in language-related brain areas, with different developmental levels observed in the DVC, NVC, and HC groups. The DVC group could have inferior speech comprehension due to a more significant number of seizures and more left-sided spike locations. Children having SeLECTS showed impaired brain maturation, leading to associated language impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the differences on resting‐state brain networks between the interictal epileptiform discharge (IED) group with self‐limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (SeLECTS), the non‐IED group with SeLECTS, and the healthy control (HC) group. Methods: Patients were divided into the IED and non‐IED group according to the presence or absence of IED during magnetoencephalography (MEG). We used Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, fourth edition (WISC‐IV) to assess cognition in 30 children with SeLECTS and 15 HCs. Functional networks were constructed at the whole‐brain level and graph theory (GT) analysis was used to quantify the topology of the brain network. Results: The IED group had the lowest cognitive function scores, followed by the non‐IED group and then HCs. Our MEG results showed that the IED group had more dispersed functional connectivity (FC) in the 4–8 Hz frequency band, and more brain regions were involved compared to the other two groups. Furthermore, the IED group had fewer FC between the anterior and posterior brain regions in the 12–30 Hz frequency band. Both the IED group and the non‐IED group had fewer FC between the anterior and posterior brain regions in the 80–250 Hz frequency band compared to the HC group. GT analysis showed that the IED group had a higher clustering coefficient compared to the HC group and a higher degree compared to the non‐IED group in the 80–250 Hz frequency band. The non‐IED group had a lower path length in the 30–80 Hz frequency band compared to the HC group. Conclusions: The study data obtained in this study suggested that intrinsic neural activity was frequency‐dependent and that FC networks of the IED group and the non‐IED group underwent changes in different frequency bands. These network‐related changes may contribute to cognitive dysfunction in children with SeLECTS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The absence state of absence seizures might be associated with reduced input of external stimulus. • Stronger delta-band signals have the potential to prevent the initiation of generalized spike-and-wave discharges (GSWDs). • Both the frontal and occipital lobes are crucial in the progression of absence seizures. • The duration of GSWDs could be shortened in the future by enhancing the inhibitory effect of low-frequency signals. Childhood absence epilepsy (CAE) is characterized by impaired consciousness and distinct electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns. However, interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) do not lead to noticeable symptoms. This study examines the disparity between ictal and interictal generalized spike-and-wave discharges (GSWDs) to determine the mechanisms behind CAE and consciousness. We enrolled 24 patients with ictal and interictal GSWDs in the study. The magnetoencephalography (MEG) data were recorded before and during GSWDs at a sampling rate of 6000 Hz and analyzed across six frequency bands. The absolute and relative spectral power were estimated with the Minimum Norm Estimate (MNE) combined with the Welch technique. All the statistical analyses were performed using paired-sample tests. During GSWDs, the right lateral occipital cortex indicated a significant difference in the theta band (5–7 Hz) with stronger power (P = 0.027). The interictal group possessed stronger spectral power in the delta band (P < 0.01) and weaker power in the alpha band (P < 0.01) as early as 10 s before GSWDs in absolute and relative spectral power. Additionally, the ictal group revealed enhanced spectral power inside the occipital cortex in the alpha band and stronger spectral power in the right frontal regions within beta (15–29 Hz), gamma 1 (30–59 Hz), and gamma 2 (60–90 Hz) bands. GSWDs seem to change gradually, with local neural activity changing even 10 s before discharge. During GSWDs, visual afferent stimulus insensitivity could be related to the impaired response state in CAE. The inhibitory signal in the low-frequency band can shorten GSWD duration, thereby achieving seizure control through inhibitory effect strengthening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]