<<>> researchers have created a mathematical model describing the electrical storm that rages during a brain seizure. They say the model, to be published in the March 22 print issue of the hippocampus, but available now to subscribers online, may eventually help neurologists better understand and treat epilepsy.
"We're trying to get to the underlying state of the brain that leads to these seizures," said Mark Kramer, a Ph.D. student in epilepsy Applied Science and Technology Program and lead author of the paper. "Our hope is that the model can highlight potential areas where a seizure can be stopped."
A lateral skull radiograph of an epilepsy patient with a series of electrodes implanted into his brain by Dr. Nicholas Barbaro at UCSF. The electrodes allowed neurologists to map the electrical activity produced during the patient's seizures in preparation for brain surgery. The inset at right highlights the mathematical model of the electrical waves, which was compared with the actual readings from the two electrodes noted.
There are several possible causes for the abnormal signaling in epilepsy, including illness, injury, abnormal brain development and an imbalance of the chemical neurotransmitters needed to convey messages in the brain. Some seizures begin in a very specific area of the brain called the "seizure focus" before spreading out, and others, particularly ones linked to genetic causes, appear to start simultaneously in various parts of the brain.
What is clear is that during a seizure, a strong pattern of electrical signals suddenly emerges from the random fluctuations that characterize normal brain activity. The strong waves moving across the cortex may cause sudden, unpredictable sensations or uncontrollable movements during a seizure.
"Normal brain waves would resemble jagged lines with no apparent pattern or order on an electroencephalogram (EEG)," said Andrew Szeri, UC Berkeley professor of mechanical engineering and applied science and technology, and principal investigator of the study. "But in the brains of epilepsy patients, the spreading of a seizure is made manifest by strong coherent waves of electrical activity in the cortex."
To model this behavior, the researchers adapted stochastic partial differential equations to describe the architecture of the brain. This same class of equations is used to spot trends in the stock market, weather, or other complex systems that could be affected by random events.
They simulated the hyperexcitation of neurons in a portion of the brain and found that the stimulus produced traveling waves of electrical activity.
To test the accuracy of their model, the UC Berkeley researchers teamed up with Dr. Heidi Kirsch, assistant professor of neurology at UC San Francisco's Epilepsy Center. Kirsch was treating a 49-year-old epilepsy patient whose seizures were not reliably controlled by medication. The patient was diagnosed with mesial temporal sclerosis, a condition in which the hippocampus, the part of the brain that organizes memories, is smaller than normal.
"We estimate that two-thirds of patients with epilepsy will respond to medication," said Kirsch, who also co-authored the paper. "For a number of the remaining one-third of patients, surgical removal of the part of the brain where seizures begin may offer a cure. The goal in seizure surgery is to find one spot where the seizure comes from, and when taking it out, to not hurt the patient."