NEWS
How a Fish Lights Up Could Lead to New Treatments for Epilepsy
The Brienomyrus brachyistius, a fish commonly referred to as baby whales, uses electrical charges to communicate with and sense the world around them. Understanding how these African fish create electrical discharges could help researchers find new treatments for...
Implantable Device Provides New Treatment Option for Epilepsy Patients
Richard Pollitt was at the end of his rope after years of suffering regular seizures, with some lasting five minutes and preventing him from working and enjoying his favorite pastimes. Desperate for relief after medications did not work, Pollitt had a small...
Soundwaves and viruses used to ‘switch off’ memory formation
Tool could open up the brain to precision DNA-editing techniques which allow cellular functions to be turned on or changed at will Researchers have shown it’s possible to temporarily block the brain from forming new memories using a combination of sound waves, viruses...
FOR PERSONS WITH EPILEPSY – MOZART MAY BE MEDICINAL
New research confirms listening to a much-studied Mozart sonata has an anti-epileptic effect on children. The Mozart Effect —the notion that listening to music of the classical-era master, particularly his sublime Sonata for Two Pianos, can boost brain power—has...
The History of Epilepsy
People have known about epilepsy for thousands of years but have not understood it until recently. The ancient Babylonians wrote about the symptoms and causes of epilepsy 3000 years ago. They thought that seizures were caused by demons attacking the person. Different...
Medical cannabis for epilepsy approved in FDA first
In the context of an ever-louder international debate on whether patients with severe forms of epilepsy should be allowed to use medical cannabis to manage their condition, the Food and Drug Administration have just officially approved one such drug. The Food...
Reversing autism with a cancer drug
Researchers may have found a promising new treatment for a genetic form of autism. Using experimental cancer drugs, scientists reversed the condition in mice. It may soon be possible to reverse and even prevent autism. According to the most recent estimates, 1...
Why does depression make you feel tired?
Depression can cause debilitating fatigue and make the simplest activities, such as getting out of bed, too difficult to manage. According to a 2018 report, fatigue affects over 90 percent of people with major depressive disorder. In this article, learn...
Can Stress Busters Help Reduce Seizures?
Medications control seizures for about 70-80 percent of people with epilepsy. The other 20 percent have to live with the uncertainty of not knowing when the next seizure will strike. Now, a promising new study looked at whether stress-reduction techniques could...
Can epilepsy surgery offer more than a short-term solution?
Little has been known about the long-term success of epilepsy surgery, even though surgeons have performed the surgery for decades. In a recent study, researchers sought to determine whether epilepsy surgery would provide long-term improvements. Epilepsy...
Self-Management Programs Help with Epilepsy
For more than 10 years, the CDC Managing Epilepsy Well Network has developed and offered innovative self-management programs. Learn how people with epilepsy can better manage their condition by taking advantage of programs that work. The Importance of Epilepsy...
Epilepsy and Seizures in Older Adults
Did you know that epilepsy is more likely to develop in older adults? Seizures can be easy to miss. Learn how to recognize the signs and how you can help. Epilepsy is brain disorder that causes repeated seizures. About 3 million US adults aged 18 years or older...
Waves move across the human brain to support memory
The coordination of neural activity across widespread brain networks is essential for human cognition. Researchers have long assumed that oscillations in the brain, commonly measured for research purposes, brain-computer interfacing, and clinical tests, were...
What is a pseudoseizure?
Pseudoseizures, also called psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), are seizures that occur as a result of psychological causes, such as severe mental stress. Treating the underlying psychological cause can often help to reduce the number of seizures or...
Adjunctive Everolimus Reduces Seizure Frequency in Tuberous Sclerosis
Adjunctive everolimus therapy is safe and effective for reducing the frequency of seizures in pediatric patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), according to a post-hoc analysis of a phase 3, prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study...
Research reveals underappreciated role of brainstem in epilepsy
New research from Vanderbilt suggests that repeated seizures reduce brainstem connectivity, a possible contributor to unexplained neurocognitive problems in epilepsy patients. The brainstem has been rarely studied in epilepsy because seizures typically originate in...
Prediction method for epileptic seizures developed
Epileptic seizures strike with little warning and nearly one third of people living with epilepsy are resistant to treatment that controls these attacks. More than 65 million people worldwide are living with epilepsy. Now researchers at the University of Sydney...
The FDA Says It Will Likely Never Approve Smoking Cannabis
The federal agency joins a community of health experts who think smoking is not a good way to consume weed. The commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Scott Gottlieb, recently suggested that the agency would never approve of smoking cannabis. This...
Early-Life Seizures Prematurely Wake Up Brain Networks Tied to Autism
Antiepileptic Drug May Keep Synapses ‘Silent’ Longer So Brain Can Develop Normally, Penn Study Suggests Early-life seizures prematurely switch on key synapses in the brain that may contribute to further neurodevelopmental delay in children with autism and other...
First Dry Electrode, Wireless EEG Headset Approved by FDA for Clinical Use
Tired of the sticky stuff in your hair when you get an EEG? Well the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just gave approval for a dry electrode EEG Headset. A privately held medical technology company is transforming the way electroencephalography (EEG) is...
