OBJECTIVE We aimed to research the effect of cognitive tasks on interictal electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings in patients with epilepsy who had reported cognitive functions as a seizure trigger. We investigated the usefulness of cognitive function tasks as a method of activation in standard-awake EEG in daily practice. METHODS Standard-awake EEG with cognitive activation tasks consisting of verbal and arithmetic tasks was administered to 35 (11.7%) of 299 patients with epilepsy who reported cognitive functions as a reflex seizure stimulus. During the background EEG, patients were divided into 2 groups: group 1 (17 patients) with interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs), and group 2 (18 patients) without IEDs. RESULTS IEDs were activated by a verbal task in 11.4% of patients and by an arithmetic task in 5.7%. All activated patients were in the genetic/idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) group. In group 1, IEDs were activated in 17.6% of patients by a verbal task and in 5.9% by an arithmetic task. Both verbal and arithmetic tasks showed provocative effect in one patient in group 2. Hyperventilation was the most effective activation method, followed by cognitive activation tasks and photic stimulation. The provocative effects of verbal and arithmetic tasks were comparable to those of photic stimulation. CONCLUSION Cognitive tasks might activate the IEDs in patients reporting cognitive functions as a seizure trigger, particularly in IGE. Brief and standardized cognitive activation tasks should be developed and applied as a method of activation during standard-awake EEG recordings to increase the diagnostic yield of EEG.

中文翻译：

---

反射性癫痫患者脑电图记录过程中认知任务的影响

目的 我们旨在研究认知任务对癫痫患者发作间期脑电图 (EEG) 记录的影响，这些患者报告认知功能是癫痫发作的触发因素。我们研究了认知功能任务作为日常实践中标准清醒脑电图激活方法的有用性。方法 对 299 名报告认知功能作为反射性癫痫刺激的癫痫患者中的 35 名 (11.7%) 进行标准清醒 EEG 和认知激活任务，包括语言和算术任务。在背景 EEG 期间，患者被分为 2 组：第 1 组（17 名患者）有发作间期癫痫样放电（IED），第 2 组（18 名患者）没有 IED。结果 11.4% 的患者通过语言任务和 5.7% 的算术任务激活 IED。所有激活的患者都属于遗传性/特发性全身性癫痫 (IGE) 组。在第 1 组中，17.6% 的患者通过语言任务激活 IED，5.9% 的患者通过算术任务激活。语言和算术任务在第 2 组中的 1 名患者中均表现出激发效应。过度换气是最有效的激活方法，其次是认知激活任务和光刺激。语言和算术任务的刺激效果与光刺激的刺激效果相当。结论 认知任务可能会激活报告认知功能作为癫痫触发因素的患者的 IED，特别是在 IGE 中。应该开发和应用简短和标准化的认知激活任务作为标准清醒 EEG 记录期间的激活方法，以提高 EEG 的诊断率。