Silent seizures recorded in the hippocampus of two patients with Alzheimer's disease

Investigators have identified silent, seizure-like activity in the hippocampus -- a brain structure significantly affected in Alzheimer's disease -- in two patients with Alzheimer's disease and no known history of seizures. These alterations in the brain's electrical activity could not be detected by standard EEG readings and primarily occurred during sleep, a time when memories are consolidated.