Seizure

An epileptic seizure, occasionally referred to as a fit, is defined as a transient symptom of "abnormal excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain".

What is a Seizure?

Seizures are caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain. In the healthy brain, electrical and chemical signals are fired between nerves called neurons to drive the brain's ability to think, feel and send instructions to parts of the body, such as the muscles. Seizures occur when this electrical system in the brain malfunctions.

Epileptic Seizure Symptoms

Epileptic Seizure Diagnosis

Epileptic Seizure Causes

Epileptic Seizure Management

Latest Seizure News and Research

Study links gestational hypertension to increased seizure risk in offspring

A new study led by researchers at University of Iowa Health Care has revealed a significant association between high blood pressure during pregnancy (gestational hypertension) and an increased risk of seizures in children.

16 Jun 2025

New molecular mechanism offers hope for causal epilepsy treatments

Epilepsy is primarily treated symptomatically - that is, the majority of the available medications aim to suppress seizures without influencing the underlying causes of the disease.

4 Jun 2025

Insulin resistance in the brain may link Alzheimer’s and epilepsy

Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have succeeded in showing, in an animal model, that the process of insulin resistance in the brain affects both Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy and may be a linking factor between the two diseases.

22 May 2025

New gene delivery systems can reach cells in the brain and spinal cord with exceptional accuracy

Research teams funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have created a versatile set of gene delivery systems that can reach different neural cell types in the human brain and spinal cord with exceptional accuracy.

21 May 2025

New short film sheds light on the impact of climate change on brain health

A powerful new short film, from the FutureNeuro Research Ireland Centre and RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences sheds light on the urgent need to address the impact of climate change on brain health.

19 May 2025

Large language models help predict epileptogenic zones for surgery

Epilepsy, one of the most common neurological disorders characterized by recurrent seizures, affects over 70 million people worldwide.

12 May 2025

Medicaid enrollment drops linked to disrupted care for young people

Children and young adults with depression, schizophrenia, ADHD, asthma and epilepsy can get great relief from medications to control their symptoms, helping them stay in school or work and prepare for their futures.

3 May 2025

Fruit fly study reveals key brain proteins that help prevent seizures

One in ten people will have at least one seizure in their life, but effective treatments for seizures remain very limited, in part due to incomplete understanding of the brain mechanisms involved.

21 Apr 2025

Harnessing the healing power of music in clinical care

Rhonda Winegar remembers watching the 2014 documentary "I'll Be Me," which chronicled country music legend Glen Campbell's struggles with Alzheimer's disease.

16 Apr 2025

New genetic clues uncovered in epilepsy drug resistance

Certain common genetic changes might make some people with focal epilepsy less responsive to seizure medications, finds a new global study led by researchers at UCL and UTHealth Houston.

16 Apr 2025

Understanding the natural history of SCN8A-related epilepsy disorders

Researchers from the Epilepsy Neurogenetics Initiative (ENGIN) at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have completed a comprehensive natural history study of SCN8A-related disorders, which represent a spectrum of neurological symptoms.

15 Apr 2025

Mayo Clinic study highlights a new approach to treating drug-resistant epilepsy

A study published in Brain Communications highlights a new approach to treating drug-resistant epilepsy.

7 Apr 2025

Early warning signs may help prevent sudden arrhythmic death syndrome

Recognizing and detecting the signs that commonly precede sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS) may help to prevent premature deaths, according to research presented today at ESC Preventive Cardiology 2025, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

4 Apr 2025

Arthritis drug shows promise in halting seizures in mice with epilepsy

A drug typically prescribed for arthritis halts brain-damaging seizures in mice that have a condition like epilepsy, according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

25 Mar 2025

Mapping the brain network behind generalized epilepsy

Frederic L.W.V.J. Schaper, MD, PhD, director of Epilepsy Network Mapping at the Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics at Brigham and Women's Hospital and an instructor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, is the senior author of a paper published in Nature Communications, "A generalized epilepsy network derived from brain abnormalities and deep brain stimulation."

25 Mar 2025

New video-based method enhances detection of infantile spasms syndrome

Shenyang Institute of Computing Technology, CAS and Chinese PLA General Hospital Joint Team conduct series of investigations on Infantile Spasms Syndrome (IESS), also known as West syndrome, discovering a video-based epileptic seizure detection method that effectively enhances the accuracy of infantile spasm identification.

21 Mar 2025