ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the characteristics of attention networks impairment in benign epilepsy children with centrotemporal spikes.Methods The attention network test was performed in benign epilepsy children with centrotemporal spikes (n =75) and normal controls (n =75) on the efficiency of three anatomically defined attention networks:alerting,orienting,and execrtive control.Results The correct rate of attention network test was significantly lower in benign epilepsy children with centrotemporal spikes (95.77％ ± 5.63％) than that in normal controls (98.55％ ± 1.80％ ; t =4.063,P ＜ 0.05).The total average response time was significantly longer in benign epilepsy children with centrotemporal spikes ((946.87 ± 199.82) ms) than that in normal controls ((729.00 ± 146.75) ms ; t =-7.611,P ＜ 0.05).The orienting network effect (29 (12,56)ms) was lower in benign epilepsy children with centrotemporal spikes than in normal controls (51 (21,78) ms; Z =-2.771,P =0.006).The executive control network effect was higher in benign epilepsy children with centrotemporal spikes (80 (50,105) ms) than in normal controls (57 (25,88) ms; Z =-2.146,P =0.032).However,the difference in alerting network effects between the two groups was not statistically significant (P ＞ 0.05).Logistic regression analysis showed that the age on onset of the disease was an independent risk factor for the correct rate of attention network test and the total average response time (OR =1.830,95％ CI 1.193-2.807,P =0.006 ; OR =1.635,95％ CI 1.176-2.275,P =0.003).Conclusions The benign epilepsy children with centrotemporal spikes have impairment of attention networks.The age on onset of the disease has a significant impact on the attention of children with rolandic epilepsy.