"This study unveils, for the first time, a potential protective mechanism, 'wake' slow waves, employed by the brain to counteract epileptic activity. This mechanism takes advantage of protective brain activity that normally occurs during sleep, but in people with epilepsy, can occur during wakefulness."

As part of the research, the team also wanted to test whether the occurrence of "wake" slow waves had any negative effects on cognitive function. During the memory task, researchers found that the "wake" slow waves reduced nerve cell activity and so affected cognitive performance—increasing the length of time required by patients to complete the task.

The team reported that for each increase of one slow wave per second, the reaction time increased by 0.56 seconds.

Professor Walker said, "This observation suggests that the cognitive difficulties—in particularly, memory deficits—experienced by individuals with epilepsy may be attributed, in part, to the brief impairments induced by these slow waves."

The team hope that future studies will be able to increase such activity as a potential novel treatment for people with epilepsy.