2024 Volume 42 Issue 1 Pages 31-39
Comorbid neurodevelopmental disorders such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder are known to occur frequently in children with epilepsy. In particular, comorbid conditions are more likely to cause executive dysfunction and maladaptive behaviors. Inattentive symptoms often go unnoticed, and the development of noninvasive, objective biomarkers are required. In this context, electrophysiological evaluation methods such as event-related potentials and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) are being applied clinically. In particular, NoGo potentials, which evaluate behavioral inhibition, have been found to be useful in the evaluation and follow-up of reduced amplitude and prolonged latency in frontal lobe epilepsy, temporal lobe epilepsy, juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, and other forms of epilepsy. In addition, fNIRS can observe brain activation by measuring changes in oxygenated hemoglobin in response to various tasks, and can evaluate various executive functions using behavioral inhibition and verbal fluency tasks. These tests are expected to be clinically applicable as biomarkers of executive function in children with epilepsy in the future.
