Recent Advances in Epilepsy Research
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Edited By:Devin K. BinderUniversity of California, San Franciso Helen E. Scharfman Helen Hayes Hospital ISBN: 0-306-47860-9 Published: 2004-06-10 This book may be purchased as an eBook (pdf) for $99, or individual chapters (pdf) may be purchased from the list below for $19. |
Chapters available from this book
The Tetanus Toxin Model of Chronic Epilepsy
Timothy A. Benke and John Swann
In experimental models of epilepsy, single and recurrent seizures are often used in an attempt to determine the effects of the seizures themselves on mammalian brain function. These models attempt to emulate as many features as possible of their human disease counterparts without many of the conf...
Functional Implications of Seizure-Induced Neurogenesis
Helen E. Scharfman
The neurobiological doctrine governing the concept of neurogenesis has undergone a revolution in the past few years. What was once considered dubious is now well accepted: new neurons are born in the adult brain. Science fiction is quickly becoming a reality as scientists discover ways to convert...
Malformations of Cortical Development: Molecular Pathogenesis and Experimental Strategies
Peter B. Crino
Malformations of cortical development (MCD) are developmental brain lesions characterized by abnormal formation of the cerebral cortex and a high clinical association with epilepsy in infants, children, and adults. Despite multiple anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs), treatment of epilepsy associated wit...
Using the Immune System to Target Epilepsy
Deborah Young and Matthew J. During
The sudden and transient disruption from normal brain function by the disordered, synchronous and rhythmic firing of populations of neurons or seizures is the common feature of a diverse collection of disease syndromes collectively called the epilepsies. The epilepsies are estimated to affect 1-2...
Functional Role of Proinflammatory and Anti-Inflammatory Cytokines in Seizures
Annamaria Vezzani, Daniela Moneta, Cristina Richichi, Carlo Perego and Maria G. De Simoni
Recent evidence has shown that proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory molecules are synthesized during epileptic activity in glial cells in CNS regions where seizures initiate and spread. These molecules are released and interact with specific receptors on neurons. Since various cytokines have bee...
Gap Junctions, Fast Oscillations and the Initiation of Seizures
Roger D. Traub, Hillary Michelson-Law, Andrea E.J. Bibbig, Eberhard H. Buhl and Miles A. Whittington
In this chapter, we shall review evidence that gap junctions can contribute to epileptogenesis in the hippocampus and cortex—but not just any gap junctions. Rather, we shall argue for a role for a newly described sort of gap junction, located between the proximal axons of principal neurons. Such ...
Role of the Depolarizing GABA Response in Epilepsy
Kevin J. Staley
The term “seizure” underscores two fundamental characteristics of epileptic phenomena: they are sudden and unexpected deviations from the normal function of the nervous system. Thus 2 important criteria for a candidate convulsant mechanism are that the mechanism is compatible with normal neural f...
Role of the GABA Transporter in Epilepsy
George B. Richerson and Yuanming Wu
The GABA transporter plays a well-established role in reuptake of GABA after synaptic release. The anticonvulsant effect of tiagabine appears to result largely from blocking this reuptake. However, there is another side to the GABA transporter, contributing to GABA release by reversing in respons...
Plasticity Mechanisms Underlying mGluR-Induced Epileptogenesis
Robert K.S. Wong, Shih-Chieh Chuang and Riccardo Bianchi
Transient application of group I metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) agonists to hippocampal slices produces ictal-like discharges that persist for hours after the removal of the agonist. This effect of group I mGluR stimulation—converting a ‘normal’ hippocampal slice into an ‘epileptic-like’...
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in Seizures: A Double-Edged Sword
Susan D. Croll, Jeffrey H. Goodman and Helen E. Scharfman
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a vascular growth factor which induces angiogenesis (the development of new blood vessels), vascular permeability, and inflammation. In brain, receptors for VEGF have been localized to vascular endothelium, neurons, and glia. VEGF is upregulated after ...
The Role of BDNF in Epilepsy and Other Diseases of the Mature Nervous System
Devin K. Binder
The neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is ubiquitous in the central nervous system (CNS) throughout life. In addition to trophic effects on target neurons, BDNF appears to be part of a general mechanism for activity-dependent modification of synapses in the developing and adult...
Genetic Approaches to Studying Mouse Models of Human Seizure Disorders
Yan Yang and Wayne N. Frankel
Epilepsy, characterized by recurrent spontaneous seizures resulting from abnormal, synchronized discharges of neurons in the brain, is one of the most common neurological problems afflicting humans. Although epilepsy clearly has a large environmental component, genetics is thought to be important...
Cortical Dysplasia and Epilepsy: Animal Models
Philip A. Schwartzkroin, Steven N. Roper and H. Jurgen Wenzel
Cortical dysplasia syndromes – those conditions of abnormal brain structure/organiza- tion that arise during aberrant brain development – frequently involve epileptic sei- zures. Neuropathological and neuroradiological analyses have provided descriptions and categorizations based on gross anatom...
Brain Stimulation as a Therapy for Epilepsy
Jeffrey H. Goodman
The failure of current antiepileptic therapies to adequately treat a significant number of epileptic patients highlights the need for the development of new treatments for the disorder. A new strategy that is currently being developed is to deliver electrical stimulation directly to the brain ...
Integrins, Synaptic Plasticity and Epileptogenesis
Christine M. Gall and Gary Lynch
A number of processes are thought to contribute to the development of epilepsy inclu- ding enduring increases in excitatory synaptic transmission, changes in GABAergic inhi- bition, neuronal cell death and the development of aberrant innervation patterns in part arising from reactive axonal grow...
GABA and its Receptors in Epilepsy
Günther Sperk, Sabine Furtinger, Christoph Schwarzer and Susanne Pirker
g-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the principal inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian brain. It acts through 2 classes of receptors, GABAA receptors that are ligand-operated ion channels and the G-protein-coupled metabotropic GABAB receptors. Impairment of GABAergic transmission by genetic mutati...
Febrile Seizures and Mechanisms of Epileptogenesis: Insights from an Animal Model
Roland A. Bender, Celine Dubé and Tallie Z. Baram
Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most prevalent type of human epilepsy, yet the causes for its development, and the processes involved, are not known. Most individuals with TLE do not have a family history, suggesting that this limbic epilepsy is a consequence of acquired rather than genetic caus...
