Epilepsy News and Research

Latest Epilepsy News and Research

Researchers identify molecular cascade that drives process of reconnection in adult brain after stroke

A stroke wreaks havoc in the brain, destroying its cells and the connections between them. Depending on its severity and location, a stroke can impact someone's life forever, affecting motor activity, speech, memories, and more.

10 Nov 2010

Sudden epilepsy death explained

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a condition that kills about 150 Australians a year. Now researchers have discovered the reasons behind such deaths. The study was conducted by scientists at the Centenary Institute at the University of Sydney who looked at blood samples taken from epilepsy suffers who had died suddenly and found that there were genetic faults in the heart and brain.

7 Nov 2010

Exposure to several AEDs in the womb negatively affect child's neurodevelopment

A large population-based study revealed that multiple antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) used by pregnant women to control seizures may cause poor school performance in their teenagers. The research team from Karolinska University Hospital and the University of Lund in Sweden confirmed that exposure to AEDs in utero may have a negative effect on neurodevelopment.

4 Nov 2010

Aestus receives $244,000 grant from QTDP program

Today Aestus Therapeutics, Inc. announced that it has been awarded a $244,000 grant from the U.S. Government's Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project program.

4 Nov 2010

Questcor announces launch of H.P. Acthar Gel for infantile spasms

Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the commercial launch is now underway for H.P. Acthar® Gel (repository corticotropin injection) as monotherapy for the treatment of Infantile Spasms (IS) in infants and children under the age of two years. This new Acthar indication was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 15, 2010.

3 Nov 2010

Study reveals a potential target for treating brain trauma

Brain damage continues to develop and evolve for months after a traumatic brain injury (TBI), revealing a potential target for treatments to improve brain trauma, new research led by the University of Melbourne, Australia has found.

3 Nov 2010

Brain Research Foundation presents Frederic A. Gibbs Discovery Award to Abbott

The Brain Research Foundation presented the Frederic A. Gibbs Discovery Award to Abbott, a global, broad-based health care company, for its dedication to advancing neuroscience through education, research and philanthropy.

3 Nov 2010

Icagen awarded $733,000 of federal government grants

Icagen, Inc. today announced that it has been awarded approximately $733,000 of federal government grants under the qualifying therapeutic discovery project program under section 48D of the Internal Revenue Code. The program provided for $1.0 billion in federal subsidies in the form of a 50% investment tax credit or an elective 50% cash grant for certain expenses incurred during 2009 or 2010 with an individual taxpayer cap of $5.0 million.

2 Nov 2010

Molecular imaging technique pinpoints changes that take place in injured brain

Results from a study published in the November issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM) show that powerful imaging techniques positron emission tomography (PET) fused with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are helping researchers better understand the long-term functional and structural changes that take place after traumatic brain injury (TBI).

2 Nov 2010

Autism Consortium begins new therapeutic initiative on Translational Medicine

The Autism Consortium, an innovative Boston area collaboration of researchers, clinicians, funders and families dedicated to catalyzing research and enhancing clinical care for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), announced that it will begin a new initiative on Translational Medicine and Autism Therapeutics. The new focus was introduced at the Consortium's fifth annual symposium held October 26th, 2010, at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

2 Nov 2010

Catalyst’s CPP-115 improves retinal safety profile than vigabatrin

Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners, Inc. today announced positive results from a series of CPP-115 preclinical safety and efficacy evaluations. CPP-115 was found to have a significantly improved retinal safety profile compared to vigabatrin.

1 Nov 2010

Vertex reports superior SVR rates with telaprevir-based combination therapy in Phase 3 studies for hepatitis C

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced new data from its Phase 3 studies of people with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C who have not been treated previously. In these studies, the majority of people achieved superior sustained viral response (SVR or viral cure) rates with a telaprevir-based combination regimen, compared to current therapies, regardless of race/ethnicity or stage of liver fibrosis (factors known to limit response to current hepatitis C treatments).

1 Nov 2010

FDA approves Afinitor drug for tuberous sclerosis complex

The Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance (TS Alliance) today announced the first drug approved for a tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) indication by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA). This drug, manufactured by Novartis Oncology, is called Afinitor and will be used to treat subependymal giant cell astrocytomas (SEGAs) in individuals with TSC.

1 Nov 2010

We can consciously control neurons inside our head

Every day our brains are flooded by stimulation - sounds, sights and smells. At the same time, we are constantly engaged in an inner dialogue, ruminating about the past, musing about the future. Somehow the brain filters all this input instantly, selecting some things for long- or short-term storage, discarding others and focusing in on what's most important at any given instant.

29 Oct 2010

Mary Ann Liebert launches Brain Connectivity journal

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. announces the release of a new peer-reviewed journal in an expanding area of systems neuroscience, Brain Connectivity. This timely new journal is positioned to become the premier source of cutting-edge basic and clinical neuroscience research aimed at better understanding of structural and functional connections in the brain and how these connections are altered by neurological disorders.

29 Oct 2010

Prominent scientist in mitochondrial genetics joins Children's Hospital to establish CMEM

Douglas C. Wallace, Ph.D., a pioneer and internationally prominent scientist in the field of human mitochondrial genetics, has joined The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to continue his investigations into the role of mitochondrial energy in health and disease.

29 Oct 2010

New computer program shows how brain's complex fiber tracks mature as we grow up

The brain's inner network becomes increasingly more efficient as humans mature. Now, for the first time without invasive measures, a joint study from the Ecole Polytechnique F-d-rale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the University of Lausanne (UNIL), in collaboration with Harvard Medical School, has verified these gains with a powerful new computer program. Reported in the PNAS early online edition last week, the soon-to-be-released software allows for individualized maps of vital brain connectivity that could aide in epilepsy and schizophrenia research.

28 Oct 2010

Individuals can consciously control neurons inside the head, study finds

Five years ago, neuroscientist Christof Koch of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), neurosurgeon Itzhak Fried of UCLA, and their colleagues discovered that a single neuron in the human brain can function much like a sophisticated computer and recognize people, landmarks, and objects, suggesting that a consistent and explicit code may help transform complex visual representations into long-term and more abstract memories.

28 Oct 2010

New computational techniques to overcome obstacles in hard-to-study genes

Scientists have invented methods to scout the human genome's repetitive landscapes, where DNA sequences are highly identical and heavily duplicated. These advances, as reported today in Science, can identify subtle but important differences among people in the number and content of repeated DNA segments.

28 Oct 2010

Neurologix holds license for gene therapy to treat severe depression

Neurologix, Inc. today announced that a landmark paper, published on October 20th in Science Translational Medicine demonstrating the importance of the p11 gene in modulating depression in mice, utilized a gene therapy approach to reverse depression in mice for which the Company holds exclusive development rights. Based on the findings reported in the paper, gene therapy may have potential as a new treatment option for people who suffer from severe depression.

26 Oct 2010