Topics and Trends in Most Cited Epilepsy research and treatment Papers, Class of 2026

What topics and trends defined most-cited Epilepsy research and treatment research in the Class of 2026?

Drug-resistant epilepsy, seizure detection, and EEG-based analytics anchor the Class of 2026 epilepsy cohort, alongside long-term monitoring, surgical resection, and antiseizure medication themes. From Class of 2025 to 2026, long-term EEG monitoring, topiramate, valproate, and seizure prediction rose sharply while drug-resistant epilepsy and focal seizures receded among top-cited work.

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Updated July 13, 2026

At a glance

Field: Epilepsy research and treatment
Cohort label: Class of 2026 (2024 publications)
Papers analyzed: 7,354
Papers ranked: 20
Top topics in ranked papers: Drug-resistant epilepsy, seizure detection, EEG classification, long-term EEG monitoring, valproate
Publication window: Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024
Eligibility: Research articles; reviews excluded
Citation window: 18 months post-publication
18m citation range: 27–66
Data source: OpenAlex · Retrieved Jul 2026
License: CC BY 4.0

Rankings

20 papers ranked by 18-month citation count

#1 of 7,354

6618m citations

Risk of Major Congenital Malformations and Exposure to Antiseizure Medication Monotherapy

Dina Battino et al.JAMA Neurology202410.1001/jamaneurol.2024.0258

CorrespondingDina BattinoInstitutionFondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Italy

antiseizure medication monotherapymajor congenital malformationswomen with epilepsyprenatal ASM exposurevalproate teratogenicityphenytoinphenobarbitalcarbamazepinetopiramatelamotrigineoxcarbazepinelevetiracetamdose-dependent teratogenic riskObservational cohort studyEURAP registryrandom-effects logistic regressiontemporal trends in ASM prescribingteratogenic outcome ascertainmentblinded malformation assessmentconfounder adjustment in pregnancy outcomes

#2 of 7,354

5918m citations

Epileptic seizure prediction via multidimensional transformer and recurrent neural network fusion

Rong Zhu et al.Journal of Translational Medicine202410.1186/s12967-024-05678-7

CorrespondingWen-Xin PanInstitutionQufu Normal University, China

Seizure predictionmultidimensional Transformer modelLSTM-GRU fusionrecurrent neural networkshort-time Fourier transformEEG classificationTime-frequency feature extractiongating mechanismUniversity of Bonn EEG datasetCHB-MIT datasetbinary classification tasktertiary classification taskseizure detection sensitivityseizure detection specificityTemporal feature extractionfrequency feature learning

#3 of 7,354

4118m citations

Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Prevention of Poststroke Epilepsy

Tomotaka Tanaka et al.Neurology202410.1212/wnl.0000000000209450

CorrespondingTomotaka TanakaInstitutionNational Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Japan

poststroke epilepsyepileptogenesisEarly seizures vs late seizuresUnprovoked seizure definitionTissue-based approach to seizure classificationEEG in acute strokeCortical superficial siderosisRisk-scoring modelsBiomarkers for seizure risk predictionTrial enrichment strategiesSurrogate outcome measuresAntiseizure medicationPrimary prophylaxis of seizuresSecondary prevention of seizuresStroke survivors' cognitive declineFunctional outcomes after strokeSeizure recurrence riskAcute stroke treatmentCardiovascular risk in antiseizure drug selectionPsychosomatic comorbidities

#4 of 7,354

3918m citations

Determination of oxidative stress level and some antioxidant activities in refractory epilepsy patients

Abdullah Yilgor et al.Scientific Reports202410.1038/s41598-024-57224-6

CorrespondingAbdullah YılgörInstitutionVan YuzuncuYil University, Turkey

Drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE)superoxide dismutase (SOD)catalase (CAT)reduced glutathione (GSH)malondialdehyde (MDA)oxidative stressspectrophotometer methodserum antioxidant enzyme levelslipid peroxidationEtiology of epilepsy

#5 of 7,354

3618m citations

Spike ripples localize the epileptogenic zone best: an international intracranial study

Wen Shi et al.Brain202410.1093/brain/awae037

CorrespondingWen Shi, Catherine J. ChuInstitutionMassachusetts General Hospital, United States

spike ripplesepileptogenic zone localizationIntracranial EEGautomated spike ripple detectorHigh-frequency oscillationsfast ripplesripplesInterictal biomarkersspike-gammaInterictal epileptiform spikesSurgical resectionILAE outcome classificationmulticentre intracranial studydepth electrodessubdural electrodesEpilepsy surgerybiomarker validationseizure freedom prediction

#6 of 7,354

3518m citations

Development and validation of an automatic machine learning model to predict abnormal increase of transaminase in valproic acid-treated epilepsy

Hongying Ma, Sihui Huang et al.Archives of Toxicology202410.1007/s00204-024-03803-5

CorrespondingQiang QuInstitutionCentral South University, China

automatic machine learningValproatetransaminase elevationhepatotoxicity predictionepilepsy treatmentpredictive model validationdrug-induced liver injuryantiepileptic drug monitoringAutoML model developmentclinical risk prediction

#7 of 7,354

3418m citations

Guidelines for Specialized Epilepsy Centers

Fred A Lado et al.Neurology202410.1212/wnl.0000000000208087

CorrespondingFred A LadoInstitutionZucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, United States

National Association of Epilepsy Centers guidelinestrustworthy consensus-based statements processEpilepsy monitoring unitEpilepsy surgeryneuroimaging in epilepsyneuropsychology in epilepsyGenetic testing in epilepsyoutpatient epilepsy carecomprehensive epilepsy center servicesstakeholder consensus panelsystematic literature review methodologyClinical guideline developmentdiagnostic testing for epilepsypatient and caregiver perspectivesExpert consensus recommendations

#8 of 7,354

3418m citations

A scheme combining feature fusion and hybrid deep learning models for epileptic seizure detection and prediction

Jincan Zhang et al.Scientific Reports202410.1038/s41598-024-67855-4

CorrespondingWenna ChenInstitutionHenan University of Science and Technology, China

Seizure detectionSeizure predictionFeature extractionCNN-GRU-AM modelConvolutional neural networkGated recurrent unitAttention mechanismDiscrete Wavelet TransformEEG signal analysisTime-frequency feature extractionNonlinear featuresCHB-MIT dataset10-fold cross-validationHybrid deep learning modelSensitivity and specificity evaluationArea under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC)Patient monitoring system

#9 of 7,354

3318m citations

Refining management strategies for Lennox–Gastaut syndrome: Updated algorithms and practical approaches

Stéphane Auvin et al.Epilepsia Open202410.1002/epi4.13075

CorrespondingStéphane AuvinInstitutionINSERM NeuroDiderot, France

Lennox-Gastaut syndromeDevelopmental and epileptic encephalopathytonic seizuresDrug-resistant epilepsy (DRE)Antiseizure medicationCannabidiolFenfluramineValproatelamotriginerufinamideclobazamfelbamatetopiramateketogenic diet therapyvagus nerve stimulationcorpus callosotomytreatment algorithmExpert consensus recommendationsAdjunctive therapySeizure control

#10 of 7,354

3218m citations

Residual and bidirectional LSTM for epileptic seizure detection

Wei Zhao et al.Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience202410.3389/fncom.2024.1415967

CorrespondingWei Zhao, Wenfeng WangInstitutionJimei University, China

ResBiLSTMEEG classificationSeizure detectionone-dimensional residual neural network (1D ResNet)Bidirectional LSTM (BiLSTM)Hybrid deep learning modelTemporal modelingSpatial feature extractionUniversity of Bonn EEG datasetTemple University Hospital (TUH) EEG corpusTUH seizure corpus (TUSZ)Seizure classification10-fold cross-validationfully connected layersF1 scoreresidual learning for time-series signals

#11 of 7,354

3218m citations

Over‐ and underreporting of seizures: How big is the problem?

Timothy Hannon et al.Epilepsia202410.1111/epi.17930

CorrespondingMark CookInstitutionUniversity of Melbourne, Australia

Long-term EEG monitoringseizure underreportingseizure overreportingpatient-reported seizure diariesnoncorrelated events (NCEs)psychogenic nonepileptic eventselectroencephalographic seizure correlationFocal epilepsygeneralized epilepsystate of arousal classificationRetrospective cohort studydiagnostic referral indicationsscalp electrode limitationsSeizure detectionclinical decision-making in epilepsy management

#12 of 7,354

3218m citations

Global, regional, and national time trends in the burden of epilepsy, 1990–2019: an age-period-cohort analysis for the global burden of disease 2019 study

Tao Shan, Yahui Zhu, Haozhi Fan et al.Frontiers in Neurology202410.3389/fneur.2024.1418926

CorrespondingMao Li, Shenqi JingInstitutionThe First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, China

Global Burden of Disease Studyage-period-cohort analysisepilepsy prevalenceyears lived with disability (YLDs)Age-standardized ratenet driftage effectperiod effectcohort effectepilepsy burden time trendsnon-communicable brain diseaseolder adults epilepsy riskEpilepsy educationepilepsy diagnosis and treatment optimizationglobal and regional epidemiologyrelative risk estimation204 countries and territories analysis

#13 of 7,354

3118m citations

Antiseizure medication use during pregnancy and children’s neurodevelopmental outcomes

Paul Madley-Dowd, Viktor H Ahlqvist et al.Nature Communications202410.1038/s41467-024-53813-1

CorrespondingPaul Madley‐Dowd, Viktor H. AhlqvistInstitutionUniversity of Bristol, United Kingdom

Antiseizure medicationValproatetopiramatecarbamazepinelamotriginePrenatal drug exposureteratogenicityautism diagnosisIntellectual disabilityADHD diagnosisNeurodevelopmental outcomeUK primary care dataSwedish national registriespregnancy cohort studypreconception treatment planningepilepsy management in pregnancymedication safety in pregnancyPopulation-based cohort studysibling/negative control comparisonchildren exposed to ASMs

#14 of 7,354

2918m citations

The fasciola cinereum of the hippocampal tail as an interventional target in epilepsy

Ryan M Jamiolkowski, Quynh-Anh Nguyen et al.Nature Medicine202410.1038/s41591-024-02924-9

CorrespondingRyan M. Jamiolkowski, Quynh-Anh NguyenInstitutionStanford University, United States

fasciola cinereumhippocampal tailposterior hippocampusMesial temporal lobe epilepsyanterior hippocampus ablationEpilepsy surgerySeizure onset zoneclosed-loop optogenetic inhibitiongenetically defined neuronsSpontaneous seizuresseizure duration reductiontargeted lesioningStereoelectroencephalography (SEEG)Postsurgical seizure outcomeepileptic mouse modelhuman epilepsy patient cohortposterior hippocampal seizure networkEpilepsy surgery targetsneuronal activity during seizures

#15 of 7,354

2918m citations

<scp>SzCORE</scp>: Seizure Community Open‐Source Research Evaluation framework for the validation of <scp>electroencephalography</scp>‐based automated seizure detection algorithms

Jonathan Dan et al.Epilepsia202410.1111/epi.18113

CorrespondingJonathan DanInstitutionEPFL, Switzerland

SzCORE frameworkSeizure detectionEEG 10-20 seizure detection benchmarkelectroencephalography (EEG)seizure annotation standardscross-validation strategies for seizure detectionperformance metrics standardizationLong-term EEG monitoringfile format standardizationpublic EEG datasetsopen-source software librarymachine-learning benchmark for seizuresalgorithm validation heterogeneityclinical significance evaluationepilepsy monitoringEEG data input standardizationreporting metrics for seizure detection

#16 of 7,354

2918m citations

Risk of Perinatal and Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Among Pregnant Women With Epilepsy

Neda Razaz et al.JAMA Neurology202410.1001/jamaneurol.2024.2375

CorrespondingNeda RazazInstitutionKarolinska Institutet, Sweden

Maternal epilepsyAntiseizure medication exposureSevere maternal morbidity and mortalityPerinatal mortalitySevere neonatal morbidityNordic population-based birth registersSingleton birthsGeneralized estimating equationsAdjusted odds ratiosSevere preeclampsiaEmbolismDisseminated intravascular coagulationCerebrovascular eventsSevere mental health conditionsNeonatal seizuresStillbirthPostpartum maternal deathPrenatal drug exposureMultinational register-based cohort studyPrescription fill data

#17 of 7,354

2818m citations

Hippocampal network activity forecasts epileptic seizures

Maxime O Baud, Vikram R Rao et al.Nature Medicine202410.1038/s41591-024-03149-6

CorrespondingVikram R. RaoInstitutionInselspital, University Hospital Bern, Switzerland

hippocampal network activitySeizure predictionepilepsyIntracranial EEG

#18 of 7,354

2818m citations

Ictal Involvement of the Pulvinar and the Anterior Nucleus of the Thalamus in Patients With Refractory Epilepsy

Ryan McGinn et al.Neurology202410.1212/wnl.0000000000210039

CorrespondingRyan McGinnInstitutionStanford University, United States

Anterior nucleus of the thalamuspulvinar nucleus (PLV)Deep brain stimulationDrug-resistant epilepsy (DRE)Stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG)multisite thalamic recordingsseizure propagation patternsmedial temporal lobe seizure onsethippocampal onset seizuresamygdalar onset seizuresFocal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizures (FBTC)focal impaired awareness seizurescontralateral seizure spreadthalamic subdivisionsSurgical resectionSeizure onset zone localizationipsilateral thalamic involvementpersonalized DBS targetingStanford Comprehensive Epilepsy Center cohortIntracranial EEG electrode implantation

#19 of 7,354

2718m citations

Long-term neuropsychological trajectories in children with epilepsy: does surgery halt decline?

Maria H Eriksson et al.Brain202410.1093/brain/awae121

CorrespondingMaria H. Eriksson, Torsten BaldewegInstitutionUCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, United Kingdom

Drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE)pediatric epilepsy surgeryneuropsychological trajectoriesRetrospective cohort studyGreat Ormond Street Hospitalfull-scale IQverbal IQperformance IQworking memoryprocessing speedacademic attainmentreading and spellingnumeracySeizure freedomAntiseizure medication discontinuationIntellectual disabilityPresurgical evaluationpostoperative cognitive outcomesFocal epilepsyregression analysis of cognitive decline

#20 of 7,354

2718m citations

Multi‐omics technologies and molecular biomarkers in brain tumor‐related epilepsy

Yaoqiang Du et al.CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics202410.1111/cns.14717

CorrespondingYaoqiang Du, Wei Zhang, Lisheng ChuInstitutionZhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, China

Brain tumor-related epilepsy (BTRE)Multi-omics technologiesGenomicsTranscriptomicsEpigenomicsProteomicsMetabolomicsBRAF V600E variantIDH variantsD2HG overproductionFOXO4VLGR1miR-128miRNA-196blncRNA UBE2R2-AS1Protein acetylationAQP4BCL2A1Ki-67PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway

Topic trends

Dominant research themes and year-over-year shifts in Epilepsy research and treatment

What Topics Define the Class of 2026?

The word cloud of canonical topics across the 50 highest 18-month-cited papers in epilepsy research and treatment reveals a field organized around refractory disease management, computational seizure analytics, and therapeutic decision-making rather than generic epidemiology labels. Drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) remains the most frequently mentioned informative topic, appearing in 8 of 50 papers (normalized frequency 0.16), followed by seizure detection (6 papers, 0.12). A second tier clusters EEG-centric and monitoring themes—EEG classification, long-term EEG monitoring, and drug-resistant focal epilepsy each appear in 5 papers (0.10)—alongside surgical resection, valproate, topiramate, seizure prediction, and developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (4 papers each, 0.08). Larger type further highlights convolutional neural networks, attention mechanisms, hybrid deep learning models, intracranial EEG, epilepsy surgery, presurgical evaluation, and genotype–phenotype correlation, signaling that influential 2024 publications increasingly pair clinical refractory-epilepsy cohorts with machine-learning pipelines for detection, classification, and prediction. Antiseizure medication topics—including clobazam, lamotrigine, carbamazepine, and cenobamate—appear alongside centromedian nucleus stimulation and electrode localization, suggesting that high-impact work spans pharmacotherapy safety, neuromodulation targets, and surgical candidacy rather than a single modality.

How Did Topics Shift from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026?

Comparing normalized concept frequencies between the Class of 2025 (2023 publications) and Class of 2026 (2024 publications) cohorts shows a rebalancing of early-high-impact epilepsy research priorities. Drug-resistant epilepsy remained the leading theme but declined from a normalized frequency of 0.28 to 0.16 (−0.12), indicating that while refractory disease still anchors the leaderboard, other topics gained relative prominence. Focal seizures fell sharply (−0.10), and seizure detection (−0.06), surgical resection (−0.06), and Dravet syndrome (−0.06) also receded among the most-cited concept set. Conversely, long-term EEG monitoring rose from 0.02 to 0.10 (+0.08), and topiramate, valproate, and seizure prediction each climbed to 0.08 (+0.06–0.08 from near-zero baselines). Drug-resistant focal epilepsy, EEG classification, developmental and epileptic encephalopathy, electrode localization, and lamotrigine showed additional gains. The topic evolution card underscores that Class of 2026 bars extend furthest for long-term EEG monitoring, drug-resistant focal epilepsy, EEG classification, and several antiseizure medication themes—topics aligned with extended monitoring protocols, ML-assisted EEG analytics, and medication-outcome studies—while Class of 2025 led more strongly on broad DRE and seizure-detection framing. Together, these shifts suggest that the most-cited 2024 papers emphasize precision monitoring, named antiseizure regimens, and focal refractory subtypes over generalized seizure-detection and legacy focal-seizure narratives.

Methodology

PRI identifies high-impact research using a transparent, topic-agnostic framework applied consistently across scientific domains. Bibliographic records are drawn from OpenAlex, including publication dates, citation relationships, and document types.

This ranking covers the Class of 2026 cohort: journal articles published in 2024. Reviews and other non-article document types are excluded to ensure comparability.

Research impact is quantified with an 18-month post-publication citation window—the number of citing works published within 18 months of each paper's publication date. This metric captures early impact while controlling for publication age.

An LLM-based relevance classifier then reviews each candidate's title and abstract to confirm substantive alignment with the target domain. Only papers classified as relevant appear in the final ranking.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459

Full methodology GitHub bioRxiv preprint

Cite this ranking

Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited Epilepsy research and treatment Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/epilepsy-research-and-treatment/2026. Accessed 2026-07-13.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459