The reasons that seizures during development can be harmful are myriad. The developing brain is highly plastic, and seizures during early development could have pronounced effects on brain development. A wide range of activity-dependent phenomena may be perturbed, including

• cell division and migration
• sequential expression of receptors
• formation and strengthening of synapses
• myelination

Much of the early work on seizure-induced brain damage concentrated on cell death. Only recently has it been demonstrated that seizures can alter brain development through mechanisms other than necrosis and programmed cell death.

Adapted from: Holmes GL. Childhood-specific epilepsies accompanied by developmental disabilities: Causes and effects. In: Devinsky O and Westbrook LE, eds. Epilepsy and Developmental Disabilities. Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann; 2001;23-32.
With permission from Elsevier (www.elsevier.com).
Reviewed and revised May 2004 by Steven C. Schachter, MD, epilepsy.com Editorial Board.