This study examined spontaneous blink rate, a putative
measure of dopamine function, in 30
children with complex partial epilepsy and 61 normal children. The children
with epilepsy
had significantly lower blink rates than the normal children in a conversation
and a verbal
recall task, particularly if they had a schizophrenia-like psychosis, EEG
evidence for left
focal epileptic activity, illogical thinking, discourse deficits, and distractibility.
They
modulated their blink rates across a listening, a conversation,
and a verbal recall task like the
normal children. Given previously reported low blink rates in schizophrenic
children, these
findings suggest that children with complex partial epilepsy or schizophrenia
might have
similar biological features.