Evoked parietal spikes and childhood epilepsy.

Parietal spikes can be evoked in some children by tactile stimulation of their feet or other parts. I investigated whether this curious phenomenon remains unchanged for several years and then disappears or whether it presages later epilepsy. Some children demonstrating this phenomenon may experience a spontaneous focus of spikes during sleep or waking and later a convulsive state. The cause of this condition may be hyperexcitability of a small cortical parietal area.