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Understanding the seizure threshold is important in managing seizure disorders. During a seizure, uncontrolled electrical activity occurs in the brain, causing various symptoms. Patients with a low seizure threshold may experience seizures in response to stimuli, but medication and avoidance can help reduce seizure activity. Doctors recommend extensive screening to identify causes and develop a treatment plan.
The seizure threshold is a turning point in a person’s brain activity at which a seizure will develop. People with seizure disorders tend to have a low seizure threshold, and this can be exacerbated over time, as seizures can have the effect of exciting the brain and increasing the chances of having another seizure. Understanding the role of basic brain activity and seizure trigger points is important for the proper management of seizure disorders. Many people can go through life without having seizures because their thresholds are high or normal.
During a seizure, the brain experiences uncontrolled electrical activity, with neurons firing repeatedly and randomly. Depending on the area of the brain involved, the patient may experience a variety of symptoms during the seizure, including muscle spasms and confusion. Seizures occur when excitatory activity in the brain, with neurons activating neurotransmitters to activate various neurons, rapidly increases and exceeds inhibitory activity, where neurotransmitters designed to limit brain activity are activated.
In a person with a low seizure threshold, brain activity is naturally high and it doesn’t take much arousal to push the patient’s brain into a seizure. Some medications are linked to a lower seizure threshold, and patients can also be triggered by stimuli such as flashing lights and smells, stress or hypoglycemia. These patients will experience seizures in response to stimuli that people with a normal or high threshold can usually safely interact with.
Patients with epilepsy may be given drugs to increase inhibitory activity in the brain with the aim of raising the seizure threshold and making seizures less likely. Additionally, they may avoid exposures known to increase brain activity and trigger seizures, such as not taking certain medications or avoiding known triggers such as specific scents. This combination of medication and avoidance can help a patient reduce or stop seizure activity.
When a patient begins to develop signs of a seizure disorder, doctors usually recommend extensive screening to learn more about what’s happening inside the brain and to identify the specific causes of a patient’s seizures. This information is used in developing a detailed and comprehensive treatment plan. The plan can be modified over time to address changes in the patient’s condition and to provide patients with access to the latest in the treatment and management of neurological conditions. Patients may be seen by a seizure specialist or general neurologist, depending on the nature of the case.
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