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Epilepsy brain implant does not transform patients’ sense of self or personality but offers them new insights into illness, study shows

A next-generation brain implant currently in clinical use for treating refractory epilepsy — to help prevent symptoms including seizures — does not induce changes to patients’ personalities or self-perceptions, a new study of patient experiences shows. The findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal AJOB Neuroscience, will help alleviate some ethical concerns that have been raised around…

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Epilepsy surgery may improve overall brain health

Epilepsy surgery may be associated with improvements to overall brain health, a study led by University of Liverpool researchers has found. The study, published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, used advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to inform its findings. Read full article here

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Marijuana-like brain substance calms seizures but increases aftereffects, study finds

A marijuana-like chemical in the brain, mirroring its plant-based counterpart, packs both ups and downs.  Epileptic seizures trigger the rapid synthesis and release of a substance mimicked by marijuana’s most psychoactive component, Stanford University School of Medicine investigators have learned. This substance is called 2-arachidonoylglycerol, or 2-AG, and has the beneficial effect of damping down…

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Breath test to determine correct treatment for epilepsy

Epilepsy affects some 50 million people worldwide and pharmaceutical treatment of the disease is a tightrope walk, as the dose must be tailored precisely to the individual patient: “Slightly too little and it isn’t effective. Slightly too much and it becomes toxic,” explains Professor Pablo Sinues. Sinues is Botnar Research Professor of Pediatric Environmental Medicine…

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3-D ‘Heat Map’ Animation Shows How Seizures Spread in the Brains of Patients with Epilepsy

For 29 years, from the time she was 12, Rashetta Higgins had been wracked by epileptic seizures – as many as 10 a week – in her sleep, at school and at work. She lost four jobs over 10 years. One seizure brought her down as she was climbing concrete stairs, leaving a bloody scene…

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When It Comes to People Like My Daughter, One Size Does Not Fit All

The following article is an opinion piece which was published in the New York Times on July 4th, 2021. The author is Mr. David Axelrod, the senior strategist for Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. “My daughter, Lauren, turned 40 last month. She is happy and healthy. And that is nothing short of a miracle. From the…

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‘Mozart effect’: Listening to composer’s Sonata For Two Pianos K448 can prevent epileptic seizures

Researchers say listening to Mozart can lead to a decrease in epileptiform discharges, the brain waves that can cause seizures. Researchers at the Hospital St Anne and CEITEC Masaryk University in the Czech Republic found that listening to Mozart’s Sonata For Two Pianos K448 reduced epileptiform discharges (EDs) – the electrical brain waves associated with…

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New research studies ‘domino effects’ and synchrony in brain activity

Scientists have made a significant breakthrough in the quest to understand the intricate processes that occur in the brain during seizures that are the key symptom of epilepsy. A team of scientists from the University of Exeter has studied the mechanisms behind distinctive patterns of electrical activity of neuron groups in the brain that accompany…

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Poor Sleep Quality, Care Management Linked With Worsening of Seizure in Patients With Epilepsy

Amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Italy, a significant number of patients with epilepsy reported difficulties managing their condition, especially those who reported greater use of antiseizure medications (ASMs) forchronic therapy and poor sleep quality, according to study findings published in Frontiers in Neurology. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented health emergencies worldwide, causing…

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