Epilepsy News and Research

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Epilepsy is a group of disorders marked by problems in the normal functioning of the brain. These problems can produce seizures, unusual body movements, a loss of consciousness or changes in consciousness, as well as mental problems or problems with the senses.

New Class of Brain Inhibitory Neurons May Contribute to Autism and Schizophrenia

A University of California, Irvine-led team of researchers working at the Center for Neural Circuit Mapping find links between brain disorders and dysfunction of newly identified inhibitory brain cell types.

26 Jul 2023

Developing a Fluorescent Sensor to Visualize Neuronal Self-Connectivity

How do brain cells, or neurons, distinguish their own processes and those of other neurons when they send out processes to connect with other neurons? A molecule known as clustered protocadherin (Pcdh) plays an important role in this puzzle.

19 Jul 2023

Rescue Treatment Found From Plant Extracts for People With Ataxia

A University of California, Irvine-led team of researchers have discovered that extracts from plants used by the Kwakwaka'wakw First Nations peoples in their traditional botanical medicine practices are able to rescue the function of ion channel proteins carrying mutations that cause human Episodic Ataxia.

22 Jun 2023

Miniaturized Sensor System can Detect Specific Seizure Gases

In people with epilepsy, seizure-alert dogs can smell small changes in body chemistry and warn of an impending seizure an hour or more before it occurs.

21 Jun 2023

Online Prediction Modeling Tool to Help Advance Scientific Discoveries

By anticipating the location of proteins within a cell, researchers might have access to a trove of biological knowledge. Future scientific discoveries related to drug development and the treatment of diseases like epilepsy will depend on this information.

6 Jun 2023

High-Resolution, Stable Brain Stimulation by Ultraflexible Nanoelectrodes

Conventional implantable medical devices designed for brain stimulation are often too rigid and bulky for what is one of the body's softest and most delicate tissues.

31 May 2023

TTUHSC Professor Awarded NIH Grant for Potassium Channel Study

Each living cell has small, highly specialized conduits called potassium (K+) channels, which are responsible for the highly selective and fast transfer of K+ ions across cell membranes.

19 May 2023

Study Uncovers Somatic Mutations That Play a Role in Common Form of Adult Epilepsy

Epilepsy affects approximately 1-in-26 people and the most common form, known as temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), often cannot be adequately treated with anti-seizure medications.

2 May 2023

Study Uncovers a Protein-Protein Interaction Related to Parkinson's Disease

In a study published in Nature Communications, a team led by Krembil Brain Institute Senior Scientists, Drs. Lorraine Kalia and Suneil Kalia, and University of Toronto (U of T) Professor, Dr. Philip M. Kim, identified a protein-protein interaction that contributes to Parkinson's disease.

24 Apr 2023

DSCAM Gene Triplication Causes Excessive Inhibitory Signaling in the Brain of Down Syndrome Mouse

An extra copy of a gene that controls synapse formation in the cortex causes excessive inhibitory signaling and may contribute to Down syndrome, according to a new study publishing April 20th in the open access journal PLOS Biology by Bing Ye of the University of Michigan, US, and colleagues.

21 Apr 2023

MIT Researchers Identify Brain Cells Most Susceptible to Neurodegeneration

Neurodegeneration, or the gradual loss of neuron function, is one of the key features of Alzheimer's disease.

20 Apr 2023

Study expands understanding of PAK1-related IDDMSSD

A recent study from Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine has expanded the clinical spectrum of a new epileptic disorder called Intellectual Developmental Disorder with Macrocephaly, Seizures, and Speech Delay (IDDMSSD) with the identification of the first recurrently affected residue identified in the protein kinase domain of PAK1 protein.

30 Mar 2023

Learning how the brain makes choices could help better understand neurological disorders

New research published by investigators at Cedars-Sinai advances scientific understanding of how the brain weighs decisions involving what people like or value, such as choosing which book to read, which restaurant to pick for lunch-;or even, which slot machine to play in a casino.

24 Mar 2023

Accelerating the structure-guided discovery of chemogenetic tools

In order to more fully understand how diseases arise in the brain, scientists must unravel the intricate way neurons relay messages (either chemical or electrical) along a complex web of nerve cells. One way is by using a tool called DREADDs, which stands for Designer Receptors Activated by Designer Drugs.

21 Feb 2023

How the immune response in the brain aggravates epilepsy

Biologists at the University of Iowa have conclusively connected epilepsy with the brain’s immune system.

15 Feb 2023

IGSF3-mediated potassium dysregulation drives glioma-related epilepsy

Glioma is one of the most aggressive malignant primary brain tumors. A common feature of glioma is the presence of localized, intermittent seizures referred to as glioma-related epilepsy, which is known to promote tumor growth. However, the mechanism involved at the molecular level is still not clear.

15 Feb 2023

Researchers use supercomputer to unveil new methods for DNA mosaic recognition

As humans, we each have trillions of cells. And each cell has a nucleus with individual genetic information –DNA – that can mutate to create an abnormality.

25 Jan 2023

Genetic cause behind novel DEE syndrome discovered

Autism and epilepsy are two highly prevalent conditions that fall under the umbrella of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), which affect 1–3% of the world’s population just in terms of cognitive disabilities.

20 Dec 2022

Specific genetic variant resulting in the early onset of epilepsy identified

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) researchers have identified a particular genetic variant in SCN1A, the most common genetic epilepsy, that contributes to an earlier start of epilepsy with clinical features different from other epilepsies.

1 Dec 2022

Tackling epilepsy with a potential new drug

One of the epilepsy types that are most prevalent worldwide is temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Although there are symptomatic medications available, one-third of TLE patients are still not responding to the current course of treatment, necessitating the urgent need for new drug targets.

25 Nov 2022