Epilepsy is a brain disorder that is depicted by recurring seizures set off by persistent, irregular and extreme discharge from cerebral neurons simultaneously. A seizure is an alteration in responsiveness or performance caused by a brief electrical disturbance in the brain. All seizures are triggered by one thing, a sudden change in how the cells of the brain send electrical signals to each other. 2There are three tests commonly used to detect epilepsy in the brain-electroencephalograph, position emission tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. An electroencephalograph (EEG) records the waves of electricity generated by brain cells. Electrodes are attached to the scalp to detect waves and the EEG produces a line on a paper similar to what you see in movies with lie detectors to indicate the changes. Position emission tomography(PET) requires the injection of glucose or water with a radioactive component that builds up in parts of the brain depending on how hard they are working. The radioactive elements show up in the PET images and allow doctors to see which parts of the brain are active during particular tasks. It creates a color coded brain map to display the levels of activity in different parts of the brain. PET scans are helpful in finding specific areas of the brain where epileptic activity occurs. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses a giant magnet to line up the protons in the body and align them with the north-south polarity of the magnet. Shows the differences in tissue density such as bone tissue versus muscle tissue. The information is fed into a computer which converts the information into an image.
             There are many possible causes of epilepsy in children. The child may have had problems with brain development prenataly, a lack of oxygen perinataly, or a head injury that has left scarring on his or her brain. The child may also have been born with an abnormal brain structure, a tumor or experienced a severe brain ...