A defect in the brain circuit which can cause absence seizures, the frequent form of epilepsy in kids have been successfully discovered by research team from the Stanford University School of Medicine. The invention could help researchers to understand how common sensory experience can trigger seizures.
Epilepsy affects one out of every twenty-six people and absence seizures are frequent form of epilepsy which normally strikes the kids aged between six and fifteen. It is somewhat normal for patients to endure these seizures for more than one hundred times in a single day.
The patient abruptly loses consciousness in absence seizure for fifteen seconds or less and usually does not remember the episode. The seizures are so delicate that sometimes they are misguided for lack of attention or a simply not noticed at all by others.
The brain of human is a complicated electrochemical calculating machine which uses circuits to process the information and share with other circuits that resulting in network. A nerve cell functions as along wire with branches, which shares electric signals with one thousand of additional nerve cell.
However, at some point in absence seizures, the electric signals of the brain impulsively fuse into rhythmic oscillations which start in two vital areas of the brain, cortex and thalamus. According to lead author Jeanne Paz, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in Huguenard’s lab, up till then the researchers were not unanimous on how or where this model started.
For the first time they were successful in showing how faulty signaling between cerebral cortex and thalamus can generate a brief loss of consciousness and brain Oscillations at the speed three times per second, stated senior researcher Dr. John Huguenard, the professor of Neurology and Neurological sciences and cellular physiology.
These episodes are usually seen in absence seizures the most frequent form of childhood epilepsy. It works like pushing a pause button. In order to develop better therapies it is important to understand where and how the oscillations originate, added Dr Huguenard. The study was published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
The study was successfully conducted on bioengineered mice, but researchers cautioned that it is not yet confirmed that results those seen in mice will be repeated in human being. However the and may help patients to manage their own exposure to slash the incidence of seizures in future.