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Epilepsy glossary - N
Nervous system – part of the body: the brain, spinal cord and nerves.
Neurological condition – a medical condition that affects the nervous system.
Neurologist – a doctor who specialises in neurological conditions.
Neurones – the scientific name for nerve cells. The brain is made up of millions of neurones. Neurones control all of the body’s functions by communicating using electrical signals. These electrical signals can be picked up on an EEG.
Neurofibromatosis (NF) – a genetic condition that causes benign tumours to grow on the covering of nerves. NF can cause epilepsy.
Neuropsychiatrist – a medically trained doctor who specialises in mental health problems that happen because of neurological conditions and conditions that affect the way the brain works.
Neuropsychologist – somebody who works with people with neurological conditions to look at how brain function affects behaviour, learning ability, language and memory.
Neurosurgery – an operation on the brain, spine or nerves. There are many reasons why someone might have neurosurgery: following an accident, because of an infection or to remove a tumour. Surgery that is done to try and reduce or stop a person’s seizures is often called ‘epilepsy surgery’.
NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) – an independent organisation that gives guidance on promoting health and treating conditions. NICE produced guidelines on the treatment and management of epilepsy in adults and in children.
Nocturnal seizures – epileptic seizures that happen when someone is asleep. Although they are called nocturnal (or night-time) seizures, they are actually related to sleep, not the time of day. So, a better name might be ‘sleep-related seizures’. If the person falls asleep during the day they could have nocturnal seizures.
Non-epileptic seizures (NEA) – seizures that look very like epileptic seizures but have a different cause. Epileptic seizures are caused by interrupted brain activity; non-epileptic seizures are not due to interrupted brain activity, and can have many different causes. Often, the term non-epileptic seizure describes a seizure with a psychological cause.
Other names for NES are dissociative seizures, non-organic seizures or psychogenic seizures (caused by the mind rather than the body). Sometimes they are called ‘pseudoseizures’ but we tend to avoid this term because it suggests the seizures are not real or they are ‘put on’. Someone who has non-epileptic seizures might be told that they have ‘non-epileptic attack disorder’ or ‘NEAD’.
