Introduction Although there has been little research to date involving the somatosensory system and seizures, a group of researcher’s in 2004 conducted a case study involving childhood epilepsy and the possible trigger coming through the somatosensory system. An overview of the case study will be discussed as well as what the somatosensory system is, and how it functions. In addition, the psychological effect on a person who has lived with seizures and the effect it has had on relationships with family is explored.
Physiology
For the purposes of this paper, the somatosensory system discussed will be limited to sensation of touch in the human body via the skin, which gives us much needed information about our environment, controls our muscle …show more content…
Electrodes were also placed on the girls at the midline of her scalp. An EEG, to record to duration of the seizure as well as the amplitude of electrical spikes within the brain. The seizures would last 20 to 30 seconds, with jerking movements in her right leg and arm (Tedrus & Fonseca, 2004, pp. 94-95). During the trial, the girl was asleep, as the partial epileptic seizures she experienced happened in her sleep prior to the 500 trials the team conducted. The girl would wake up with the sensation of tingling and numbness in her right leg upon awakening. In performing the study while the girl slept, the researchers were able to keep the results true to the natural occurrences experienced by her prior to the study. The conclusions reached were that the cortical areas involved, in particular the parietal lobe, the amplitude measured is much higher than people who are seizure free by 5 to 10 times (Tedrus & Fonseca, 2004, pp. 95-96). Although the researchers were unable to conclude that this pattern consists in every person who has epilepsy, it has opened the door of exploration of how a seizure originates, and which area in the cortex the electrical charge …show more content…
Lenora experienced a great deal of fear because she never knew when a seizure was going to happen. She was on many anticonvulsants, Tegretol, Dilantin, and Phenobarbital, were a few, and when she was diagnosed with severe depression the doctors did not want to prescribe an antidepressant due to the seizure medications. She was never able to drive a car, have a job, and felt alienated from the normal world.
In her twenties she attempted suicide, and once again in her thirties. Thankfully she survived and is now living a life she never dreamed possible due to the brain surgeries. For the first time in her life, she has been able to get a job, does not take all the seizure medicines, and although she does not drive, she is happy riding a bike or the city bus. Her self-imagine underwent a positive change, she is more confident and feels that she has been given a second chance to be the person she was meant to be. It has been a privilege to be by her side throughout all those years of struggle she and the family went through; the surgeries, and to witness the phenomenal change she has undergone. The family is no longer anxious wondering if she will be okay, or if she will attempt suicide
Physiology
For the purposes of this paper, the somatosensory system discussed will be limited to sensation of touch in the human body via the skin, which gives us much needed information about our environment, controls our muscle …show more content…
Electrodes were also placed on the girls at the midline of her scalp. An EEG, to record to duration of the seizure as well as the amplitude of electrical spikes within the brain. The seizures would last 20 to 30 seconds, with jerking movements in her right leg and arm (Tedrus & Fonseca, 2004, pp. 94-95). During the trial, the girl was asleep, as the partial epileptic seizures she experienced happened in her sleep prior to the 500 trials the team conducted. The girl would wake up with the sensation of tingling and numbness in her right leg upon awakening. In performing the study while the girl slept, the researchers were able to keep the results true to the natural occurrences experienced by her prior to the study. The conclusions reached were that the cortical areas involved, in particular the parietal lobe, the amplitude measured is much higher than people who are seizure free by 5 to 10 times (Tedrus & Fonseca, 2004, pp. 95-96). Although the researchers were unable to conclude that this pattern consists in every person who has epilepsy, it has opened the door of exploration of how a seizure originates, and which area in the cortex the electrical charge …show more content…
Lenora experienced a great deal of fear because she never knew when a seizure was going to happen. She was on many anticonvulsants, Tegretol, Dilantin, and Phenobarbital, were a few, and when she was diagnosed with severe depression the doctors did not want to prescribe an antidepressant due to the seizure medications. She was never able to drive a car, have a job, and felt alienated from the normal world.
In her twenties she attempted suicide, and once again in her thirties. Thankfully she survived and is now living a life she never dreamed possible due to the brain surgeries. For the first time in her life, she has been able to get a job, does not take all the seizure medicines, and although she does not drive, she is happy riding a bike or the city bus. Her self-imagine underwent a positive change, she is more confident and feels that she has been given a second chance to be the person she was meant to be. It has been a privilege to be by her side throughout all those years of struggle she and the family went through; the surgeries, and to witness the phenomenal change she has undergone. The family is no longer anxious wondering if she will be okay, or if she will attempt suicide