Sunday, August 01, 2010
New research points to a genetic route to understanding and treating epilepsy. A team led by Timothy Jegla, an assistant professor of biology at Penn State, has identified an ancient gene family that plays a role in regulating the excitability of nerves within the brain. (more)
Monday, March 01, 2010
Epilepsy is a disease characterized by recurrent seizures, which occur when the electrical activity of the brain becomes abnormal, resulting in a variety of different symptoms (seizure types). Depending on the location of the epileptic region in the brain and its cause, there are different types of epilepsy. Individuals with epilepsy may not be able to do many of the things most Americans take for granted, such as driving, swimming and cooking. They may live in constant fear of the next seizure because they do not know when it will start or what they will be doing when it does. Epilepsy is highly treatable, and the goal is to completely control or significantly reduce the frequency of seizures and minimize medical side effects. (more)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Led by director Steven J. Schiff and assistant director Bruce Gluckman, Penn State's Center for Neural Engineering is forging ahead with confidence. Awarded a $1 million Biomedical Core Center grant from the National Institutes of Health this fall, and with a custom-designed facility in the new Materials/Life Sciences complex in the works for 2011, Schiff, Gluckman and colleagues are positioning the center to become an innovation leader at the intersection of neural engineering, materials science and medicine. One priority is to find more sensitive, precise and individualized strategies to monitor brain activity and suppress seizures before they strike. (more)
