[Treatment of drug-resistant focal epilepsy using visual orientation activity]

A 24 year old female with drug-resistant epilepsy showed control over her complex-partial seizures. The patient suppressed paroxysmal activity up to 20 minutes. There was evidence of a relation between the occipital localization of the epileptic focus and the mode of control. Under controlled conditions increase of the visual activity was associated with decreasing paroxysmal activity. Especially varying visual orientation suppressed epileptic activity, while visual focusing or closed eyes enhanced it. Neither auditory nor somatosensory activity interfered with paroxysms. The comparison between 32 weeks before and 12 weeks after the study showed a significant reduction of the weekly seizure frequency. The possibility of a "sensory control" of epileptic activity is discussed.