Epilepsy News and Research

Latest Epilepsy News and Research

Early life epilepsies should be treated with urgency as childhood cancers

Like childhood cancers, early life epilepsies represent many rare disorders with diverse underlying causes. Unlike childhood cancers, little has changed in the outcomes of early life epilepsies in the past few decades, despite advances in diagnostic technologies and availability of new treatments.

5 Apr 2018

Largest-ever study to examine anatomical alterations in the brains of epilepsy patients

An international research consortium used neuroimaging techniques to analyze the brains of more than 3,800 volunteers in different countries. The largest study of its kind ever conducted set out to investigate anatomical similarities and differences in the brains of individuals with different types of epilepsy and to seek markers that could help with prognosis and treatment.

4 Apr 2018

Children with autism more likely to be prescribed antipsychotic medication, study finds

A new study by Swansea University has suggested that children with intellectual difficulty or autism are more likely to be given antipsychotic medication from a younger age than those without intellectual disability and have higher rates of hospitalization for depression and for injury and also are at risk of other medical side effects.

4 Apr 2018

Study provides broader picture of problems faced by stroke victims

A new study looks at what problems affect people most after a stroke and it provides a broader picture than what some may usually expect to see.

29 Mar 2018

Scientists demonstrate successful implementation of prosthetic memory system

Scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and the University of Southern California (USC) have demonstrated the successful implementation of a prosthetic system that uses a person's own memory patterns to facilitate the brain's ability to encode and recall memory.

28 Mar 2018

Vagus nerve stimulation accelerates motor skill recovery after stroke

Researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas have demonstrated a method to accelerate motor skill recovery after a stroke by helping the brain reorganize itself more quickly.

28 Mar 2018

Researchers uncover cause of rare childhood neurodegenerative disease

Neurology researchers investigating a rare but devastating neurological regression in infants have discovered the cause: gene mutations that severely disrupt crucial functions in mitochondria, the energy-producing structures within cells.

23 Mar 2018

Menopausal hormone therapy taken soon after menopause may benefit the brain

Taking menopausal hormone therapy soon after menopause to relieve symptoms may also benefit the brain, according to a study published in the March 21, 2018, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

22 Mar 2018

Scientists develop brain “stethoscope” that can detect silent seizures

Neurologists at Stanford have developed a diagnostic tool that can translate the brain’s activity into sounds for the detection of silent seizures.

21 Mar 2018

Researchers discover 'missing mutation' in severe infant epilepsy

Researchers have discovered a "missing mutation" in severe infant epilepsy--long-suspected genetic changes that might trigger overactive, brain-damaging electrical signaling leading to seizures.

20 Mar 2018

New standards for public involvement in research launched across the UK

A set of national standards designed to improve the quality and consistency of public involvement in research launch today at the 2018 Patients First conference - hosted jointly by the AMRC and the ABPI - and at the Involving People Network Annual Meeting 2018.

20 Mar 2018

Transplanting enhanced interneurons restores brain rhythms in mouse model of Alzheimer’s

Like a great orchestra, your brain relies on the perfect coordination of many elements to function properly. And if one of those elements is out of sync, it affects the entire ensemble. In Alzheimer's disease, for instance, damage to specific neurons can alter brainwave rhythms and cause a loss of cognitive functions.

15 Mar 2018

Women with high physical fitness at middle age 90% less likely to develop dementia

Women with high physical fitness at middle age were nearly 90 percent less likely to develop dementia decades later, compared to women who were moderately fit, according to a study published the March 14, 2018, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

15 Mar 2018

Researchers develop new method to increase life span of donated brain tissue samples

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have developed a method that enables them to use donated brain tissue from people with epilepsy for 48 hours. Previously, the researchers only had 12 hours to test new treatments before the structure of the cells started to break down. The research has now been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

9 Mar 2018

Scientists link protein to seizure suppression

According to a new study, seizures can be suppressed in the brain by a protein called T-cell intracellular antigen-1 (TIA-1).

8 Mar 2018

Neurogenesis diminishes after childhood, finds study

In a recent study, scientists concluded that adult neurogenesis, which is seen in other species, does not occur in human beings.

8 Mar 2018

Researchers determine cause of difficult-to-control mitochondrial diseases

A Japanese research group has discovered that taurine is conjugated with mitochondrial transfer RNAs (tRNAs), small RNAs that decode genetic information, and that taurine deficiency in tRNA dramatically reduces both mitochondrial protein translation and impairs mitochondrial membrane integrity.

7 Mar 2018

Researcher develops new technology for long-term stable neural recording

Klas Tybrandt, principal investigator at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics at Linköping University, has developed new technology for long-term stable neural recording. It is based on a novel elastic material composite, which is biocompatible and retains high electrical conductivity even when stretched to double its original length.

5 Mar 2018

Comprehensive computer models accurately capture diversity of neurons

The Allen Institute for Brain Science has produced the first comprehensive, publicly available database of predictive neuron models, along with their corresponding data.

2 Mar 2018

Gluten-free diet may help protect against neuropathic pain

A strict gluten-free diet may help protect against the nerve pain that some people with gluten sensitivity experience, according to a preliminary study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 70th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, April 21 to 27, 2018.

1 Mar 2018