epilepsy

brain and lightning
June 22, 2020

Single mutation causes seizure disorder

A single mutation in one gene can impair inhibitory signaling in the brain and cause multiple types of seizures and behavioral abnormalities.

By Leigh MacMillan
December 12, 2019

A new anti-seizure target?

Vanderbilt neurologists have identified a protein modification that could be targeted to reduce neuronal excitability in epilepsy.

By Leigh MacMillan
Pediatric neurologist Kevin Ess, MD, PhD, left, and pediatric neurosurgeon Robert Naftel, MD, follow up with patient Daniel Lookabaugh, who has epilepsy.
December 5, 2019

ROSA technology helps ease patient’s violent seizures

In the span of a month in December 2018, Daniel Lookabaugh suffered six severe seizures, requiring hospitalization at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt each time to have neurological care as well as intervention from Pediatric Orthopaedics to reset his jaw and shoulder.

By Christina Echegaray
Brain image
November 14, 2019

Blueprint for treating epilepsy

Structural details of a protein that is essential to normal brain function could improve treatments for epilepsy and other seizure disorders.

By Bill Snyder
epilepsy image
October 10, 2019

VIGH study seeks to expand epilepsy care efforts in Africa

The Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH), with Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), will conduct a clinical trial in three cities in northern Nigeria to determine the efficacy of shifting childhood epilepsy care to epilepsy-trained community health extension workers.

By Holly Fletcher
October 3, 2019

Team discovers one more piece to the autism puzzle

Vanderbilt investigators have linked genetic mutations in a single receptor to epilepsy, autism and intellectual disability.

By Bill Snyder
September 9, 2019

Astrocytes and epilepsy

A protein with important functions in astrocytes — star-shaped brain support cells — may alter neuronal excitability and contribute to seizure activity, Vanderbilt researchers report.
By Leigh MacMillan
September 5, 2019

Team explores epilepsy-related brain disturbances

A team led by a neurosurgeon-scientist and an engineering professor who specializes in techniques for analyzing functional neuroimaging data has received a $3 million grant to study disturbances in brain networks related to attention lapses and cognitive deficits in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.
By Pam Coyle
May 16, 2019

Brain network activity can improve in epilepsy patients after surgery

Successful epilepsy surgery can improve brain connectivity like patterns seen in people without epilepsy, according to a new study.
By Holly Fletcher
March 14, 2019

Study aims to predict treatment response in epilepsy patients

With the aid of $2.5 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Vanderbilt researchers are on a quest to develop early biomarkers of treatment outcomes for patients with temporal lobe epilepsy based on their individual brain networks.
By Kelsey Herbers
November 15, 2018

New epilepsy monitoring systems collect better data

New epilepsy monitoring systems at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are providing neurologists better data for assessing adult and pediatric patients.
By Tom Wilemon
May 31, 2018

Research reveals underappreciated role of brainstem in epilepsy

New research from Vanderbilt suggests that repeated seizures reduce brainstem connectivity, a possible contributor to unexplained neurocognitive problems in epilepsy patients.
By Tom Wilemon
February 26, 2018

Cannabis compound reduces seizures

Cannabidiol (CBD) oils reduced seizures in patients with difficult-to-treat epilepsy, Vanderbilt investigators have found.
By Leigh MacMillan