Epilepsy News and Research

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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.

New Research Highlights Brain Connectivity as Key Factor in Cognitive Aging

How variations in cognitive abilities, cognitive reserve, and SVD-related neuropathologies impacted SFC in aging adults.

22 Jul 2024

New Model Unveils Synaptic Mechanisms in Neurological Diseases

Newly released research from Colorado State University provides basic answers to questions regarding brain cellular connectivity that may be helpful in the development of therapies for neurological conditions like schizophrenia, epilepsy, and autism.

27 Jun 2024

Breakthrough in Understanding Connexin-Drug Interactions

Researchers have gained new knowledge of how drugs bind to connexin molecules. These molecules form channels that allow neighboring cells to send direct messages to one another.

27 Jun 2024

Breakthrough Imaging Reveals the Dynamics of the Brain's Fast-Acting Kainate Receptor

New groundbreaking images of one of the brain's fastest-acting proteins are providing critical clues that may lead to the development of targeted therapies to treat epilepsy and other brain disorders.

18 Jun 2024

Super-Cooled Brain Cell Molecules Shed Light on Epilepsy Drug Action

By super cooling a molecule on the surface of brain cells down to about minus 180 degrees Celsius -; nearly twice as cold as the coldest places in Antarctica -; scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine say they have determined how a widely-used epilepsy drug works to dampen the excitability of brain cells and help to control, although not cure, seizures.

11 Jun 2024

Astrocyte Receptor Effects Differ Dramatically Between Sexes

Weill Cornell Medicine scientists have uncovered the first evidence that astrocyte receptors can trigger opposite effects on cognitive function in male and female preclinical models.

31 May 2024

Researchers Pinpoint Neural Compass Crucial for Navigation

A pattern of brain activity that helps prevent us from getting lost has been identified in a new study, published in Nature Human Behaviour.

7 May 2024

New Study Discovers Gene Associated with Epilepsy and Autism

A genetic mutation or variation in the SCN2A gene is known to cause infantile seizures, autism spectrum disorder, and intellectual disability, among other moderate-to-severe impairments in movement, communication, feeding, and vision.

29 Apr 2024

Astrocytes Identified as Key Trigger for Epileptic Seizures

Epilepsy, where patients suffer from unexpected seizures, affects roughly 1% of the population.

22 Apr 2024

Understanding How the Human Forebrain Develops at the Cellular Level

A group of researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine led an investigation that offers new insight into the development of the human forebrain.

17 Apr 2024

Researchers Unveil a Key Gene with a Central Role in Learning and Memory Across Mammalian Brain Cells

Discoveries in mice could guide the quest for treatments aimed at addressing brain developmental disorders in children with SYNGAP1 gene mutations.

1 Mar 2024

Neuroscientists Uncover Significance of Glial Cells in Brain Communication

Neuroscientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center have found that an often-overlooked type of brain cell called glia has more of a role in brain function than previously thought.

29 Feb 2024

The Role of Associative Memory in Spatial Navigation

Human lives revolve around spatial navigation and spatial memory. Without these skills, it would be extremely difficult to remember the past and to navigate the environment. But understanding the neural underpinnings of spatial memory is still quite incomplete.

19 Feb 2024

New Technology Enables Minimally-Invasive, High-Resolution Recording of Brain Activity

Sensors built with a new manufacturing approach are capable of recording activity deep within the brain from large populations of individual neurons–with a resolution of as few as one or two neurons–in humans as well as a range of animal models, according to a study published in the Jan. 17, 2024 issue of the journal Nature Communications.

18 Jan 2024

"Wake" Slow Waves may Decrease the Impact of Epileptic Spikes on Brain Activity

Slow waves that usually only occur in the brain during sleep are also present during wakefulness in people with epilepsy and may protect against increased brain excitability associated with the condition, finds a new study led by researchers at UCL.

30 Nov 2023

Epigenetic Regulator MOF Plays Critical Role in Mitochondrial Function

The intricate control of cellular metabolism relies on the coordinated and harmonious interplay between the nucleus and mitochondria.

10 Oct 2023

Largest Genetic Study Discovers Specific DNA Changes That Increase Risk of Epilepsy

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.

5 Sep 2023

The Evolution of Epilepsy and Potential Cure: A New Study

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.

1 Sep 2023

New Class of Brain Inhibitory Neurons May Contribute to Autism and Schizophrenia

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.

26 Jul 2023

Developing a Fluorescent Sensor to Visualize Neuronal Self-Connectivity

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.

19 Jul 2023