Introduction: Changing terms and concepts for epilepsy.

The Epidemiology Special Interest Group held at the 2012 American Epilepsy Society meeting was dedicated to a discussion of the concepts and terminology needed for effective communication about the causes of epilepsy. Diverse perspectives were represented ranging from needs in a developing country to those in a tertiary surgical center. The solutions to these different needs often seem in conflict with each other. Informatics is introduced as a discipline that may provide the necessary tools to construct an internally consistent conceptual and terminological system responsive to these many different settings and purposes and able to accommodate changes over time.