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.
The largest genetic study of its kind, coordinated by the International League Against Epilepsy, including scientists from FutureNeuro at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, has discovered specific changes in our DNA that increase the risk of developing epilepsy.
Specific alterations in human DNA have been shown to raise the likelihood of getting epilepsy, according to the biggest genetic study of its type, which was managed by the International League Against Epilepsy and involved researchers from FutureNeuro at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Neurodegeneration, or the gradual loss of neuron function, is one of the key features of Alzheimer's disease.
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.
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.
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.
Biologists at the University of Iowa have conclusively connected epilepsy with the brain’s immune system.
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.
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.
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.