Millett C J, Fish D R, Thompson P J, Johnson A
Jules Thorn Telemetry Unit, Institute of Neurology, University College London, England, UK.
Epilepsia. 1999;40 Suppl 4:59-64. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1999.tb00908.x.
Some individuals who are negative to flash/pattern sensitivity have been reported to experience seizures while exposed to video games. This study seeks to examine systematically whether exposure to video-game material is a risk factor for seizures in patients with chronic epilepsy without visual sensitivity.
Two hundred and twelve chronic epilepsy patients participated in the study. All were negative to rigorous flash and pattern sensitivity testing. They were randomly allocated to a video game-playing session or to a period of leisure (involving reading, physical exercise, puzzles, etc.) and then alternated between these activities for a fixed total of eight 45-min periods while undergoing video-EEG monitoring. The study ceased if the participant experienced a clinical seizure.
Twenty-five of 212 subjects experienced a seizure while participating in the study. Thirteen seizures occurred during periods of video-game play, and 12 during alternative leisure.
We have not identified a greater risk of seizures in patients with (not visually sensitive) epilepsy during video-game play compared with other common leisure pursuits. Furthermore, we exposed a large population (212 patients) mostly with severe epilepsy, mainly drug reduced and some sleep deprived, to prolonged video game-playing without observing a significant excess number of seizures. This finding provides strong support for the hypothesis that seizures during video game play in the >95% of the epilepsy population without visual sensitivity are most likely to represent a chance occurrence, although, as always, each individual should be carefully assessed.
据报道，一些对闪光/图形敏感性检测呈阴性的个体在玩电子游戏时会发作癫痫。本研究旨在系统地检验对于无视觉敏感性的慢性癫痫患者，接触电子游戏素材是否为癫痫发作的危险因素。
212名慢性癫痫患者参与了本研究。所有人在严格的闪光和图形敏感性测试中均呈阴性。他们被随机分配到玩电子游戏时段或休闲时段（包括阅读、体育锻炼、解谜等），然后在这两种活动之间交替进行，总共固定为八个45分钟的时段，同时接受视频脑电图监测。如果参与者出现临床癫痫发作，则研究终止。
212名受试者中有25人在参与研究期间发作癫痫。13次发作发生在玩电子游戏时段，12次发作发生在交替的休闲时段。
我们并未发现（无视觉敏感性的）癫痫患者在玩电子游戏时比进行其他常见休闲活动时癫痫发作风险更高。此外，我们让大量（212名患者）主要患有严重癫痫、主要接受药物治疗且部分睡眠不足的患者长时间玩电子游戏，并未观察到癫痫发作数量显著过多。这一发现为以下假设提供了有力支持：在95%以上无视觉敏感性的癫痫患者中，玩电子游戏时的癫痫发作很可能是偶然发生的，不过，一如既往，对每个个体都应进行仔细评估。
