Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Advanced sensors provide new look at how seizures begin By James M. Connolly Tuesday, March 29, 2011 Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brown University used sensors, advanced recording techniques and new data handling techniques to track the activity of individual neurons during a seizure. The researchers concluded that different groups of neurons play different roles at different times during a seizure, which is contrary to the commonly-held view that seizures are characterized by massively synchronized activity. The research is being published in Nature Neuroscience, according to a press release from MGH. “Our findings suggest that different groups of neurons play distinct roles at different stages of seizures,” said the paper’s senior author Sydney Cash of the MGH Department of Neurology, in the press release. “They also indicate that it may be possible to predict impending seizures, and that clinical interventions to prevent or stop them probably should target those specific groups of neurons.” Read the rest of the article here.

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