NEWS
Study shows long-term gains from hastening surgical interventions against epilepsy
There are important, long-term gains from hastening the processes around surgical interventions against epilepsy - before the disease has had too much negative impact on brain functions and patients' lives. These are some of the findings of a thesis for which more...
RAISING SUDEP AWARENESS IN PEDIATRIC EPILEPSY
This article appears in the AAP News and Journals Gateway Increasing Awareness of Sudden Death in Pediatric Epilepsy Together Gardiner Lapham, William Davis Gaillard, Joanna Sexter, Madison M. Berl The death of any child is tragic. When the death is sudden and...
Mapping premature infant’s brain after birth may help better predict developmental problems
Scanning a premature infant's brain shortly after birth to map the location and volume of lesions, small areas of injury in the brain's white matter, may help doctors better predict whether the baby will have disabilities later. This is according to a new study...
First Guideline on Presurgical Brain Mapping for Epilepsy
The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has released the first evidence-based guideline comparing procedures used for determining brain lateralization prior to epilepsy surgery and for predicting post-surgical language and memory deficits. A summary of the new...
The quest by parents and scientists to end pediatric epilepsy
Piper Wood had her first seizure in a setting meant for sunscreen, snorkels, shovels, and pails. The island was remote – that was the point of this family vacation. Six months old and turning blue, Piper finally calmed down and drew breath again after the island's...
Researchers Identify Epilepsy-Linked Genes That Could Lead to Better Therapies
Researchers have identified a network of 320 genes in the brain that are linked to epilepsy — a finding that could help address genetic anomalies that lead to the condition. In about 25 percent of cases, epilepsy has a clear cause, such as a head trauma or stroke. But...
Psychiatric Manifestations of Frontal Lobe Epilepsy
BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) comprises 30% of all partial epilepsies; it can masquerade as a primary psychiatric condition or be co-morbid with a psychiatric illness. Because patients with FLE may present to...
Brain alterations in preterm babies may begin weeks before birth
Alterations in the developing brain that can put preterm babies at risk of autism, cerebral palsy, and other developmental disorders may begin in the womb. This is the finding of a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports.Preterm birth is defined as the...
New Research Shows Promise for Surgery For Specific Epilepsy Cause
Neurology Advisor: Seizure Reduction Likely With Surgery in Nonlesional Neocortical Epilepsy Patients with nonlesional neocortical epilepsy may benefit from epilepsy surgery, especially those who undergo complete resection of areas of high ictal and interictal...
Mediterranean diet may help provide long-term protection to the brain
A new study shows that older people who followed a Mediterranean diet retained more brain volume over a three-year period than those who did not follow the diet as closely. The study is published in the January 4, 2017, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal...
Specific Brain Lesion Linked to Post-Stroke Epilepsy
HOUSTON — Researchers may have identified a common pathologic lesion in many patients with post-stroke epilepsy (PSE). Their study also showed that lesion size and a patient's age may be other factors affecting risk for PSE. The study was presented here by lead author...
Traditional Chinese Herb, Huperzine A, May Protect Against Epileptic Seizures
A naturally occurring compound often used in traditional Chinese medicine offered “robust” protection against induced seizures in mouse models of epilepsy and may prove of benefit to people — especially children — with treatment-resistant forms of the disease,...
Can Methylphenidate (Ritalin)Treat Cognitive Deficits in Epilepsy?
A study published in Neurology suggests that methylphenidate (Ritalin) may help some cognitive deficits in patients with epilepsy. To compare the potential efficacy of immediate-release methylphenidate (Ritalin) vs. placebo in treating cognitive deficits in epilepsy,...
Why Do Flashing Images Cause Seizures?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1.8 percent of American adults—about 4.3 million—have epilepsy, a brain disorder that causes seizures. A much smaller percentage of that group has experienced seizures triggered by lights or...
Puzzle of Impaired Consciousness in Absence Epilepsy Solved?
Intense abnormal activity in well-known brain networks that occurs early in a seizure may be the key to impaired consciousness in children with absence epilepsy, new research suggests. Results of a new study indicate that seizures with behavioral impairment are not...
Recovery from TBI appears to go hand-in-hand with improvement of sleep problems
After a traumatic brain injury (TBI), people also experience major sleep problems, including changes in their sleep-wake cycle. A new study shows that recovering from these two conditions occurs in parallel. The study is published in the December 21, 2016, online...
Neuroscientists uncover how the brain retunes to pull meaning out of noisy environment
When you're suddenly able to understand someone despite their thick accent, or finally make out the lyrics of a song, your brain appears to be re-tuning to recognize speech that was previously incomprehensible. University of California, Berkeley, neuroscientists have...
Seizure Triggers: Research Sheds Lights on How Certain Stimuli Cause Seizures
Why does exposure to rhythmic stimulation at certain frequencies facilitate the occurrence of epileptic seizures? In 1997, flickering patterns in an episode of the series Pokémon triggered epileptic seizures in nearly 700 Japanese children. These spontaneous outbreaks...
First-Line Treatment With Carbamazepine in Neonatal Epilepsy
Low-dose carbamazepine (CBZ) should be considered as first-line treatment for benign familial neonatal epilepsy (BNFE), even in cases of status epilepticus, according to data reported recently in Epilepsia. The majority of neonates given CBZ 10 mg/d as needed...
Fasting May Help to Prevent Seizures by Calming Nervous System, Early Study Suggests
Reducing calorie intake, or fasting, may help decrease the frequency of seizures in people with epilepsy by calming overexcited neurons in the brain, early research suggests. “Our findings suggest that one of the reasons that fasting is beneficial is that it gives the...
