College Park, MD (August 23, 1999) -- For the first time, scientists believe they have discovered what happens in the brain just before an epileptic seizure. The research could "lead to new ways of treating the seizure that might be less drastic than the surgery that is now necessary for many patients," says Raima Larter, one of the scientists involved in epilepsy research at Indiana University Purdue University in Indianapolis (IUPUI). The study will appear in the September issue of the journal Chaos.
More than 2 million Americans live with epilepsy. More than half a million, including many children, don't respond to current treatment. When seizures persist, epilepsy is as debilitating a disorder as it was hundreds of years ago.
In the type of seizure studied by Larter and her colleagues, a small section of the brain that is behaving abnormally "recruits" normal brain tissue to behave abnormally as well. Patients with this type of seizure do not usually respond to medication, and many undergo brain surgery in an effort to control the disorder. Side effects of the surgery can include memory loss and speech impairment.
While scientists still don't know what triggers an epileptic seizure, it is commonly believed that seizures occur when there is a transition from the normal uncoordinated firing of neighboring nerve cells in the brain (neurons), to a periodic, common firing. Larter and her colleagues think they know what enables that critical transition, and theorize that it can be controlled.
The IUPUI researchers believe that the critical parameter is the speed at which neurons in healthy brain tissue communicate. They contend that when neurons are communicating at normal speed they fire unpredictably. But when the speed of communication increases, groups of neurons can quickly start firing in unison - which often leads to a full blown seizure.
One of the most important findings in this research, says neurosurgeon Robert
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Contact: Rory McGee
rmcgee@aip.org
301-209-3088
American Institute of Physics
23-Aug-1999