Grant: CIHR Fellowship

It is unclear why some seizures spread beyond the brain region of origin to recruit more widespread networks, a process known as seizure generalization. This is troubling because seizures are not adequately controlled with medication in a third of people with epilepsy and seizure generalization results in convulsions that can cause injury or death. It is important to understand why seizures generalize to treat and avoid these detrimental convulsions whose effects extend well beyond seizure termination. Using cutting-edge techniques, it is now possible to isolate and observe the contributions of distinct cell-types to the function of a larger brain network. Utilizing these techniques to study epilepsy enables me to track the activity of specific cell populations during seizures that either remain within the epileptic network or spread to cause convulsions. Upon understanding how activity patterns of key cell-types lead to seizure generalization, treatments that disrupt these patterns can be selected to prevent convulsions. A basic understanding of this phenomenon could lead to treatments that dramatically improve quality of life and reduce the risk of death in poorly controlled epilepsy.