How Epileptic Fits Are Like Earthquakes

Epileptic fits exhibit some of the same patterns as seismic shocks, new research suggests, raising doubt the longstanding belief that seizures occur randomly.

The research, led by neurologist Ivan Osorio of the University of Kansas, found patterns of “waiting times” between epileptic fits that are similar to earthquake occurrences, reports New Scientist. Just as earthquakes are preceded by tiny tremors imperceptible to humans, epileptic fits are preceded by neural spikes detectable only on brain scans. The analysis, which has yet to be peer reviewed, compared the brain activity in more than 16,000 epileptic seizures with seismological data from 300,000 earthquakes.

The paper above is quite readable, check it out!