Newcastle University epilepsy researchers make breakthrough

Dec 1 2009 by Helen Rae, The Journal

PIONEERING research by scientists in the North East could offer new treatments to people suffering from epilepsy.

For the first time, scientists at Newcastle University have been able to record spontaneous epileptic activity in brain tissue that has been removed from patients undergoing neurosurgery.

Led by Dr Mark Cunningham, the research has revealed a particular type of brain wave pattern associated with epilepsy that is caused by electrical connections between nerve cells in the brain – rather than chemical ones.

The findings mark a major step forward in understanding of a condition that currently affects up to 45 million people worldwide.

Dr Cunningham said: “Until now we have only been able to mimic epilepsy using experimental animal models, but this can never give you a true picture of what is actually going on inside the human brain in epilepsy.

“Our findings help us to understand what is going wrong and are an important step towards finding new epilepsy treatments in the future.”

The first line of treatment for patients with epilepsy is anti-epileptic drugs to control seizures.

However, in almost 30% of epilepsy patients the drugs do not work and some resort to surgery to remove the brain tissue responsible for the condition.