Ictal and interictal changes in central auditory processing.

Disordered functioning manifest in seizures can also give rise to subtle, pervasive interictal changes. We have used sets of synthesized acoustic stimuli, concurrent EEG and AED blood‐level monitoring to evaluate changes in a 24‐year old female with focal seizures. During ictus patient becomes mute, she can hear but not comprehend, and may then be briefly amnestic. EEG revealed sharp/slow waves over left anterior temporal regions, with occasional bilateral discharges. Levels of two AED fluctuated 50%, with peaks 2 h apart. Performance on 4‐min sets of auditory testing with ge‐ye and be‐de‐ge fluctuated from well defined (p<0.001) near either peak AED, to near‐chance levels; three‐choice vowel sets were well defined throughout. Disruptions, which involved contralateral homologous areas as well as surrounding ipsilateral areas, are consistent with augmented inhibition.