![Study supports link between stress, epileptic seizures
Scientists have long thought that stress plays a role in epileptic seizures, and new evidence suggests that epilepsy patients who believe this is the case experience a different brain response when faced with a nerve-wracking situation.
Researchers from the University of Cincinnati performed functional MRI brain scans during a stressful math exercise on 16 epilepsy patients who pegged stress as a factor in their seizure control and seven patients who did not. While both groups performed similarly on the test, those who perceived stress to have an impact on their epilepsy showed greater brain activation than the others during intimidating parts of the test.
"One of the things we often hear is that a lot of epilepsy patients feel their seizures are affected by stress … but no one had really looked at their [brain response] or other elements of their physiological response," said study author Jane Allendorfer, an instructor of neurology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Allendorfer worked at University of Cincinnati while the study was conducted.
"We were a bit surprised to see this difference," she added, "but really excited to see it as well because this is something that hadn’t been done before."
The research was scheduled to be presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society, in San Diego. Data presented at scientific conferences often has not been peer-reviewed or published and is considered preliminary.
A brain disorder producing repeated seizures, epilepsy affects more than 2 million people in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An estimated 50 million to 65 million people are affected by the condition worldwide.](http://40.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mekh5tZpLz1rog5d1o1_500.jpg)
Study supports link between stress, epileptic seizures
Scientists have long thought that stress plays a role in epileptic seizures, and new evidence suggests that epilepsy patients who believe this is the case experience a different brain response when faced with a nerve-wracking situation.
Researchers from the University of Cincinnati performed functional MRI brain scans during a stressful math exercise on 16 epilepsy patients who pegged stress as a factor in their seizure control and seven patients who did not. While both groups performed similarly on the test, those who perceived stress to have an impact on their epilepsy showed greater brain activation than the others during intimidating parts of the test.
"One of the things we often hear is that a lot of epilepsy patients feel their seizures are affected by stress … but no one had really looked at their [brain response] or other elements of their physiological response," said study author Jane Allendorfer, an instructor of neurology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Allendorfer worked at University of Cincinnati while the study was conducted.
"We were a bit surprised to see this difference," she added, "but really excited to see it as well because this is something that hadn’t been done before."
The research was scheduled to be presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society, in San Diego. Data presented at scientific conferences often has not been peer-reviewed or published and is considered preliminary.
A brain disorder producing repeated seizures, epilepsy affects more than 2 million people in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An estimated 50 million to 65 million people are affected by the condition worldwide.
