Diagnosis

Frontal lobe epilepsy can be difficult to diagnose because its symptoms can be mistaken for psychiatric problems or sleep disorders, such as night terrors. It's also possible that some seizure effects found in the frontal lobe might be the result of seizures that begin in other parts of the brain.

Your doctor will review your symptoms and medical history and give you a physical exam. You might also have a neurological exam, which will assess:

• Muscle strength
• Sensory skills
• Hearing and speech
• Vision
• Coordination and balance

Your doctor might suggest the following tests.

• Brain scans. Brain imaging, usually MRI, might reveal the source of frontal lobe seizures. An MRI scan uses radio waves and a powerful magnetic field to produce detailed images of soft tissues, which make up the brain.

  An MRI scan involves lying on a narrow pallet that slides into a long tube. The test often takes about an hour. Some people feel claustrophobic inside MRI machines, although the test itself is painless.

• Electroencephalogram (EEG). An EEG monitors the electrical activity in your brain via a series of electrodes attached to your scalp. EEGs are often helpful in diagnosing some types of epilepsy, but results can be normal in frontal lobe epilepsy.
• Video EEG. Video EEG is usually performed during an overnight stay at a sleep clinic. Both a video camera and an EEG monitor run all night. Doctors can then match what physically occurs when you have a seizure with what appears on the EEG during the seizure.