Is it possible to anticipate seizure onset by non-linear analysis of intracerebral EEG in human partial epilepsies?

Detection of electrophysiological features preceding and indicative of imminent seizures in patients with epilepsy would be a major breakthrough with immense scientific and clinical implications. The definition of a ``pre-ictal state{''} several minutes prior to seizure onset would open a new time window for studying mechanisms of seizure generation as well as for possible therapeutic interventions. in this review we present recent findings from nonlinear time series analysis of intracranially recorded EEG that may allow to forecast seizure onset in patients with partial epilepsy.