Paroxysmal discharges on EEG in young autistic patients are frequent in frontal regions

EEGs were recorded in 86 autistic patients during sleep. Epileptic discharges were observed in 37 cases (43%). Twenty-seven (73%) of these 37 cases had localized spikes, 8 had multiple spike foci, one had generalized spikes, and one had both multiple spike foci and generalized spikes. Forty-seven epileptic discharge foci were registered in 36 cases, the exception being one with generalized spikes. Thirty-six (76.6%) of the registered 47 epileptic discharge foci were in the frontal region, one (2.1%) in the temporal region, 7 (14.1%) in the centro-parietal region, and 3 (6.4%) in the occipital region. Twenty (55.6%) of the 36 frontal spikes were at midline (11 at Fz and 9 at Cz), 8 on the left side, and 8 on the right side. The dipole of midline spikes was in the deep midline frontal region. These results suggest that frontal dysfunctions are important in the mechanism of symptoms in autism.