title: Quantitative analysis of EEG background activity in patients with rolandic spikes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim was to compare the background activity, through quantitative EEG analysis, of patients with rolandic spikes and normal age-matched controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-one channel EEG of 23 children with rolandic spikes and 39 normal children, with ages ranging from 7 to 12 years, were submitted to quantitative analysis (FFT) of discharge-free epochs. Patients and controls were divided in groups according to age (7-9 and 10-12 years old). Delta, theta, alpha and beta frequency ranges were compared between groups for all electrode positions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Comparing normals, the 7-9 years old group showed power reduction in the alpha and beta ranges. Comparing patients and normal age-matched groups, the patients showed power increase, at all frequency ranges in the 7-9 years old group and at delta and theta frequency ranges in the 10-12 years old group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings agree with recent evidences that these children may differ from normal (besides the eventual occurrence of seizures); but they also suggest that these differences can be related to immaturity and not necessarily related to the epileptiform discharge.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Neurophysiology, Neurology and Neurosurgery Department, UNIFESP-EPM, São Paulo, Brazil. niobraga@uol.com.br
authors.forename: N I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Braga
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Manzano
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Nóbrega
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D004569:Electroencephalography; D019305:Epilepsy, Rolandic / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans