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** Epilepsy Research News
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JANUARY 2025
CURE Epilepsy is dedicated to funding patient-focused research to find a cure for the 65 million people with epilepsy worldwide. This month, we share the following articles and abstracts which are furthering the study of epilepsy and bringing the world closer to a cure.
* Uncovering Why Some Seizures Cause Loss of Consciousness ([link removed])
* AI Shows Early Promise in Detecting Infantile Spasms ([link removed])
* Innovative Approach Maps Gene Activity in the Living Human Brain ([link removed])
** Uncovering Why Some Seizures Cause Loss of Consciousness
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In temporal lobe epilepsy — a common and debilitating form of the disorder — seizures often cause those affected to lose consciousness. In a new study, researchers at Yale University developed a mouse model of temporal lobe epilepsy in which seizures could be triggered in the same area of the brain as they occur in humans with the disorder. They found that, after a seizure was triggered, the behavior of some mice trained to do certain tasks was reduced. They also saw that when seizures were triggered in the mice, brain activity in an area called the cortex resembled that of deep sleep. In people and in the mouse model, not every seizure leads to loss of consciousness or behavioral effects. In comparing the instances where seizures changed mouse behavior with those that didn’t, the researchers found that activity in the cortex more closely resembled a sleep state when seizures impaired behavior.
Learn More ([link removed])
** AI Shows Early Promise in Detecting Infantile Spasms
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Artificial intelligence (AI) analysis of caregiver-recorded videos has the potential to diagnose infantile epileptic spasm syndrome, according to a new study. In infants with the condition even small delays in diagnosis and ensuing treatment can result in poor outcomes including intellectual disability, autism, and worse epilepsy. Parents who observe unusual behavior often seek advice from friends and family members and receive false reassurance that such behavior isn’t unusual. Even physicians may contribute if they are unaware of this rare syndrome.
The idea to employ AI came from looking at videos of infants on YouTube and the realization that many patients upload them in an effort to seek advice. The researchers built a model that they trained to recognize infantile spasms using openly available YouTube videos, including 141 infants, 991 recorded seizures, and 597 non-seizure video segments, along with a non-seizure cohort of 127 infants with an accompanying 1385 video segments. The group is now developing an app that will allow parents to upload videos that can be analyzed using the model.
Learn More ([link removed])
** Innovative Approach Maps Gene Activity in the Living Human Brain
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A method to profile gene activity in the living human brain has been developed by researchers at FutureNeuro, the Research Ireland Centre for Translational Brain Science and RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, in collaboration with international partners. Studying gene activity in the brain without requiring invasive tissue samples from surgery or post-mortem donation has been a long-standing challenge in neuroscience. By analysing molecular traces – specifically RNA and DNA – collected from electrodes implanted in the brains of patients with epilepsy and linking these with electrical recordings from the brain, the researchers were able to take a ‘snapshot’ of gene activity in the living brain. These electrodes, clinically used to pinpoint seizure activity in patients enabling surgical interventions, provide a unique opportunity to link brain activity to the genes being switched on or off in specific regions. The study demonstrates how integrating molecular data with electrical
recordings of seizures can enhance our understanding of the brain’s seizure networks, potentially improving the precision of epilepsy surgeries.
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** Love reading about epilepsy research from around the globe? These updates are only possible thanks to the generosity of CURE Epilepsy supporters. Help sustain this and other educational resources with a gift today.
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