Neurodevelopmental liabilities in epilepsy

The epilepsies are a heterogenous group of cortical disorders characterized by recurrent excessive neuronal activity. In the pathophysiology of these disorders are included mechanisms of abnormal neuronal potential generation secondary to channelopathies, excitotoxic mechanisms secondary to imbalance in neuronal excitation and inhibition, and abnormalities of neuronal organization. In this article the mechanisms of the epilepsies are reviewed, in the setting of three examples: autosomal dominant nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy, mesial temporal sclerosis and malformations of cortical development.