Epilepsy Research News

November 20, 2024

Top Headlines

How Optogenetics Can Put the Brakes on Epilepsy Seizures

Nov. 15, 2024 — In what could one day become a new treatment for epilepsy, researchers have used pulses of light to prevent seizure-like activity in ...

Lab-Grown Spines Unlock Safer Treatment for Women With Epilepsy, Study Suggests

Oct. 1, 2024 — Researchers have made a significant step towards enabling women with epilepsy safer access to a common and highly effective anti-seizure medication. Sodium Valproate or valproic acid is widely ...

Vital Language Sites in Brain Act Like Connectors in a Social Network

Sep. 16, 2024 — When surgeons perform brain surgery on people with brain tumors or epilepsy, they need to remove the tumor or abnormal tissue while preserving parts of the brain that control language and movement. A new study may better inform doctors' decisions ...

Cutting-Edge Algorithm Improves Intracranial EEG Accuracy to Improve Future Patient Care

Aug. 27, 2024 — A research team evaluated the reliability of human experts in comparison to an automated algorithm in assessing the quality of intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:45pm EST

Finland Introduces a New Care Pathway for Epilepsy

Nov. 12, 2024 — A new model for epilepsy care provides a streamlined, multidisciplinary approach to the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy, and combines modern digital tools, data sharing and peer ...

Novel Calculator Predicts Risk of Epilepsy After Rare Stroke

Nov. 12, 2024 — A practical calculator predicts the risk of epilepsy after venous stroke. The aim is to improve care for those affected, which are predominantly young ...

Adhesive Cortical Device Enables Artifact-Free Neuromodulation for Closed-Loop Epilepsy Treatment

Sep. 19, 2024 — Researchers have developed a groundbreaking soft cortical device that could revolutionize the treatment of epilepsy and other neurological ...

Do Epilepsy Medications Taken During Pregnancy Affect a Child's Creativity?

May 29, 2024 — While older drugs for epilepsy, taken while pregnant, have been shown in previous research to affect the creative thinking of children, a new study finds no effects on creativity for children born to ...

Flicker Stimulation Shines in Clinical Trial for Epilepsy

May 22, 2024 — Researcher leads a new clinical trial testing her flicker technology on patients with ...

Glial Hyper-Drive for Triggering Epileptic Seizures

Apr. 19, 2024 — When epileptic patients suffer seizures, their brain is undergoing repetitive and excessive neuronal firing. But what triggers this has stumped scientists for years. Now, researchers have used ...

Perfect Balance: How the Brain Fine-Tunes Its Sensitivity

Apr. 18, 2024 — A sensitive perception of the environment is crucial for guiding our behavior. However, an overly sensitive response of the brain's neural circuits to stimuli can lead to neurodevelopmental disorders ...

Early Intervention After the First Seizure May Prevent Long-Term Epilepsy and Associated Cognitive Deficits

Mar. 22, 2024 — Only a very small percentage of neurons show changes after an epileptic seizure in mice, but these alterations can be permanent and trigger future ...

Seizures Identified as Potential Cause of Sudden Unexplained Death in Children

Jan. 4, 2024 — In a study designed to better understand sudden, unexpected deaths in young children, which usually occur during sleep, researchers have identified ...

New Therapeutic Target for Rare Type of Childhood Epilepsy

Dec. 11, 2023 — Researchers have identified a potential treatment target for a genetic type of epilepsy. ...

Brain Waves Usually Found in Sleep Can Protect Against Epileptic Activity

Nov. 30, 2023 — 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 ...

For Epilepsy, Yoga May Be Good for Your Mind

Nov. 8, 2023 — For people with epilepsy, doing yoga may help reduce feelings of stigma about the disease along with reducing seizure frequency and anxiety, according to new ...

New Drug Offers Relief for Treatment-Resistant Epilepsy Patients

Oct. 9, 2023 — In cases where standard therapies fail, a medication called XEN1101 reduces seizure frequency by more than 50% in some patients and sometimes eliminates them altogether, a new study shows. Unlike ...

Revolutionizing Brain Monitoring and Stimulation With Thin-Film Neural Electrodes

Sep. 14, 2023 — Flexible thin-film electrodes placed directly on brain tissue show promise for the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy. Thanks to an innovative yet straightforward design, these durable electrodes ...

Largest Genetic Study of Epilepsy to Date Provides New Insights on Why Epilepsy Develops and Potential Treatments

Aug. 31, 2023 — The largest genetic study of its kind has discovered specific changes in our DNA that increase the risk of developing epilepsy and may inform the development of new ...

Exposure to Antiseizure Medications Does Not Harm Neurological Development in Young Children

July 19, 2023 — Young children who were exposed to commonly-prescribed anti-seizure medications in utero do not have worse neurodevelopmental outcomes than children of women who do not take anti-seizure ...

The Mozart Effect Myth: Listening to Music Does Not Help Against Epilepsy

Mar. 6, 2023 — Over the past fifty years, there have been remarkable claims about the effects of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's music. Reports about alleged symptom-alleviating effects of listening to Mozart's ...

Novel Deep Brain Simulation Approach for Treating Drug-Refractory Epilepsy

Mar. 6, 2023 — A research team proposes an innovative sequential narrow-field deep brain stimulation procedure to treat intractable ...

Seizures Can Be Predicted More Than 30 Minutes Before Onset in Patients With Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Mar. 1, 2023 — Seizures can be predicted more than 30 minutes before onset in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, opening the door to a therapy using electrodes that could be activated to prevent seizures from ...

Study Identifies Cause for Mysterious Cases of Epilepsy in Children

Jan. 12, 2023 — An international consortium has identified at least some of the genetic drivers of a mysterious form of pediatric ...

Study Identifies Neuronal Basis of Impaired Consciousness in 'Absence' Epilepsy

Jan. 10, 2023 — Imagine slipping in and out of consciousness hundreds of times per day, staying awake the whole time but having no sense of awareness during these lapses. In children with absence epilepsy, these ...

Can Diet Combined With Drugs Reduce Seizures?

Jan. 4, 2023 — Following a modified Atkins diet high in fat and low in carbohydrates plus taking medication may reduce seizures in people with tough-to-treat epilepsy, according to a new ...

Researchers Discover Genetic Variant Associated With Earlier Onset Childhood Epilepsy

Nov. 30, 2022 — Researchers have discovered a specific genetic variant in SCN1A, the most common genetic epilepsy, that leads to an earlier onset of epilepsy, with clinical features distinct from other epilepsies. ...

New Tools Map Seizures, Improve Epilepsy Treatment

Nov. 29, 2022 — Two new models could solve a problem that's long frustrated millions of people with epilepsy and the doctors who treat them: how to find precisely where seizures originate to treat exactly that ...

Researchers Take Key Step Toward Improving Lives of People With Epilepsy

Nov. 28, 2022 — Researchers have taken a key step toward improving the lives of patients with epilepsy by developing a sensor system for quickly testing their saliva to see if they have the correct level of ...

Neuroscientists Discover a New Drug Candidate for Treating Epilepsy

Nov. 23, 2022 — Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is one of the most common types of epilepsy worldwide. Although symptomatic medications are available, one-third of TLE patients remain unresponsive to current treatment, ...

Risk of Seizures Is Higher After COVID-19 Than After Influenza, Study Finds

Nov. 16, 2022 — People who have a COVID-19 infection are more likely to develop seizures or epilepsy within the next six months than people who have an influenza infection, according to a new ...

Children With Severe Form of Epilepsy Should Receive Flu Vaccine Due to High Seizure Risk After Influenza Infection, Study Finds

Nov. 16, 2022 — Children with a severe form of epilepsy should be vaccinated against the flu due to the high risk of seizures being triggered by an influenza infection, according to a new ...

An Animal Model of West Syndrome Exhibits a Progressive Increase in Epileptic Spasms and Learning and Memory Deficits

Nov. 3, 2022 — Researchers have provided the first demonstration of a progressive increase in epileptic spasms along with learning and memory deficits in an animal model of this ...

Gene Therapy Targeting Overactive Brain Cells Could Treat Neurological Disorders

Nov. 3, 2022 — A new treatment for neurological and psychiatric diseases, that works by reducing the excitability of overactive brain cells, has been ...