What brain structures does epilepsy affect?
What brain structures does epilepsy affect?
The temporal lobes are the areas of the brain that most commonly give rise to seizures. The mesial portion (middle) of both temporal lobes is very important in epilepsy — it is frequently the source of seizures and can be prone to damage or scarring.
What brain structure causes seizures?
The temporal lobe processes memories, integrating them with sensations of taste, sound, sight and touch. Frontal lobe seizures are a common form of epilepsy, a neurological disorder in which clusters of brain cells send abnormal signals and cause seizures. These types of seizures stem from the front of the brain.
What is the structure of epilepsy?
Structural. Epilepsy is said to have a structural cause if there is a distinct, physical cause present in the brain that is known to substantially increase the risk of seizures. Congenital: a developmental change in the brain the person is born with. Some congenital structural causes may also have a genetic component.
What part of the brain does epilepsy damage the most?
Much of the research into the effect of seizures on the brain centers on focal, or localized, seizures, particularly those affecting the temporal lobe. In fact, temporal lobe epilepsy is the most common type of focal epilepsy in adults.
Does epilepsy affect brain function?
Epileptic seizures adversely alter brain function in other ways besides killing cells. Rewiring of brain circuitry and the birth of new brain cells (neurons and glia) both may lead to seizures.
What is the physiology of epilepsy?
Epilepsy happens as a result of abnormal electrical brain activity, also known as a seizure, kind of like an electrical storm inside your head. And because your brain controls so much, a lot of different things can go wrong. You may have periods of unusual behaviors, feelings and sometimes loss of awareness.
What are the two main causes of epilepsy?
Causes of epilepsy It’s possible it could be partly caused by your genes affecting how your brain works, as around 1 in 3 people with epilepsy have a family member with it. Occasionally, epilepsy can be caused by damage to the brain, such as damage from: a stroke. a brain tumour.
What are the structural and metabolic causes of seizures in adults?
Overall, the most common etiology of adult onset seizures is stroke. Other causes in descending order are idiopathic seizures, CNS infections, metabolic causes, and brain tumors. Gliosis, CVT, ADEM, MS, and PRES are the less common causes.
What is the anatomy and physiology of epilepsy?
Epilepsy is a heterogeneous disorder with diverse syndromes and etiologies that include structural abnormalities (i.e. stroke, tumors, malformations of cortical development, etc.), functional abnormalities (involving ion channels, as in autosomal dominant frontal lobe epilepsy due to an acetylcholine channelopathy) or …
What happens to the brain during a seizure?
During a seizure, there is a sudden intense burst of electricity that disrupts how the brain usually works. This activity can happen on one small part of the brain and last for just a couple of seconds, or it can spread right across the brain and keep going for many minutes.
What neurotransmitters are involved in epilepsy?
Key findings: Glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) are the main neurotransmitters playing a critical role in the pathophysiology of this balance, and irreversible neuronal damage may occur as a result of abnormal changes in these molecules.
What’s the difference between epilepsy and seizure?
A seizure is a single occurrence, whereas epilepsy is a neurological condition characterized by two or more unprovoked seizures.
What is the role of networks in modern epilepsy research?
Recent studies that have investigated functional and structural networks in epilepsy have revealed specific disruptions in connectivity and network topology and, consequently, have led to a shift from “focus” to “networks” in modern epilepsy research.
Do epilepsy patients with underlying structural brain lesions alter brain networks?
In addition, in epilepsy patients with underlying structural brain lesions, it is unknown whether alterations in networks arise from epilepsy per se, or from the associated structural lesions, as investigated in patients with brain tumors (Douw et al., 2010b, 2013; van Dellen et al., 2012 ).
How is epileptiform activity measured in epilepsy?
In the study of epilepsy, neurophysiologic techniques, such as (intracranial) electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG), are widely used to localize epileptiform activity and to provide information on how brain areas are functionally connected.
What is the PLOS One 7 publication number for temporal lobe epilepsy?
PLoS ONE 7: e39078 . Palmigiano A, Pastor J, Garcia de Sola R, Ortega GJ. ( 2012) Stability of synchronization clusters and seizurability in temporal lobe epilepsy. PLoS ONE 7: e41799 .