Epilepsy News and Research

Latest Epilepsy News and Research

Study reveals how our brains track where we and others go

As COVID cases rise, physically distancing yourself from other people has never been more important. Now a new UCLA study reveals how your brain navigates places and monitors someone else in the same location.

23 Dec 2020

Researchers control cardiac waves with light to study abnormally rapid heart rhythms

Over 300,000 people die each year in the U.S. due to sudden cardiac death. In many cases, sudden cardiac death is caused by abnormally rapid heart rhythms called tachycardias, which means the heart cannot pump adequate blood to the body.

22 Dec 2020

Trinity team uncovers mutations linked with early onset dementia

Scientists at Trinity College Dublin today announced a significant advance in our understanding of an early onset form of dementia that may also progress our understanding of conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.

22 Dec 2020

Researchers explore why seizures happen in a subset of MS patients

A research team at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine has identified a pathway involving astrocytes, a class of central nervous system support cells, that could shed light on why seizures happen in a subset of multiple sclerosis, or MS, patients.

21 Dec 2020

Study reveals critical role of perirhinal cortex in managing learning process

The famous patient Henry Molaison (long known as H.M.) suffered damage to his hippocampus after a surgical attempt to cure his epilepsy. As a result, he had anterograde amnesia, which meant that things he learned never made it past his short-term memory.

21 Dec 2020

Researchers develop a technique to predict epileptic seizures

A third of epilepsy sufferers are resistant to treatment for this neurological disease that affects 1% of the population.

18 Dec 2020

Microglial surveillance helps prevent seizure activity in the brain

An important part of the brain's immune system, cells called microglia constantly extend and retract "branches" from their cell body to survey their environment.

14 Dec 2020

Study reveas how the brain uses neural activity patterns to compare expectations with the present

Imagine you are sitting on the couch in your living room reading. You do it almost every night. But then, suddenly, when you look up you notice this time something is different.

14 Dec 2020

Comorbid psychiatric disorders explain elevated suicide risk in autism spectrum disorders

A population-based study revealed reasons behind elevated suicide risk, attempted suicides, and other selfharm, which require special health care, among a and young adults with autism spectrum disorders. Comorbid disorders, especially non-affective psychoses and the affective and anxiety disorders, explained the risk.

10 Dec 2020

Antiepileptic drug reduces early signs of clinical dysfunction in people with ALS

The antiepileptic drug ezogabine reduced pathologic excitability of cortical and spinal motor neuron cells that are early signs of clinical dysfunction in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to a study conducted by the Neurological Clinical Research Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital.

10 Dec 2020

Severe cortical damage associated with COVID-19 case report

In December 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) began to cause a flu-like infection in people living in Wuhan, China.

10 Dec 2020

Novel neurophysiological phenomenon explains how cortical neurons generate spasms

Epileptic spasms are a type of brief seizures that are the hallmark of catastrophic seizure disorders, which are characterized by severe cognitive and motor deficits.

9 Dec 2020

Study sheds new light on how brain encodes time and place into memories

Two studies led by UT Southwestern researchers shed new light on how the brain encodes time and place into memories. The findings, published recently in PNAS and Science, not only add to the body of fundamental research on memory but could eventually provide the basis for new treatments to combat memory loss from conditions such as traumatic brain injury or Alzheimer's disease.

8 Dec 2020

Iceland joins with WHO to support work towards integrated brain health

His Excellency Mr Harald Aspelund, Ambassador of the Permanent Representative of Iceland to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva and Ms Jane Ellison, WHO Executive Director for External Relations and Governance signed a new contribution agreement to support work towards integrated brain health, that will be led by a newly established unit within the Department of Mental Health and Substance Use.

8 Dec 2020