Blink rate in pediatric complex partial seizure disorder

This study examined spontaneous blink rate, a putative measure of dopamine function, in 30 children with complex partial epilepsy and 61 normal childr en. The children with epilepsy had significantly lower blink rates than the normal children in a conversation and a verbal recall task, particularly i f they had a schizophrenia-like psychosis, EEG evidence for left focal epil eptic activity, illogical thinking, discourse deficits, and distractibility . They modulated their blink rates across a listening, a conversation, and a verbal recall task like the normal children. Given previously reported lo w blink rates in schizophrenic children, these findings suggest that childr en with complex partial epilepsy or schizophrenia might have similar biolog ical features.