Mild brain cooling after head injury prevents epileptic seizures in lab study

Mild cooling of the brain after a head injury prevents the later development of epileptic seizures, according to an animal study reported this month in the Annals of Neurology.

Epilepsy can result from genetics or brain damage. Traumatic head injury is the leading cause of acquired epilepsy in young adults. It is often difficult to manage with antiepileptic drugs. The mechanisms  behind the onset of epileptic seizures after brain injury are not known . There is currently no treatment to cure it, prevent it, or even limit its severity.

The multi-institutional research team used a rodent model of acquired epilepsy in which animals develop chronic spontaneous recurrent seizures -the hallmark of epilepsy- after a contusive head injury similar to that causing epilepsy in humans. The rats were randomized to either mock-cooling or cooling of the contused brain by no more than 2 Celsius degrees. This degree of cooling, the authors explained, is known to be safe and to decrease mortality of patients with head injury.  The rats  were then monitored for four months after injury and epilepsy was evaluated by intracranial EEG. The contused brain was cooled continuously with special headsets engineered to passively dissipate heat. No Peltier cells or other power sources for refrigeration were needed.

The investigators report that cooling by just 2 degrees celsius for 5 weeks beginning 3 days after injury virtually abolished the later development of epileptic seizure activity. This effect persisted through the end of the study. The treatment induced no additional pathology or inflammation, and restored neuronal activity depressed by the injury.

“These findings demonstrate for the first time that prevention of epileptic seizures after traumatic brain brain injury is possible, and that epilepsy prophylaxis in patients could be achieved more easily than previously thought, said  the lead author of the study,  Raimondo D’Ambrosio, UW associate professor of neurological surgery.  He added that a clinical trial is required to verify the findings in head injury patients.

Making Memories: Drexel Researchers Explore the Anatomy of Recollection

What was your high school mascot? Where did you put your keys last night? Who was the first president of the United States?

Groups of neurons in your brain are currently sending electromagnetic rhythms through established pathways in order for you to recall the answers to each of these questions. Researchers in Drexel’s School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems are now getting a rare look inside the brain to discover the exact pattern of activity that produces a memory.

Dr. Joshua Jacobs, a professor in Drexel’s School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, is analyzing data accumulated from 60 epilepsy patients who have had electrodes implanted on their brains in order to determine the causes of their epileptic episodes.

"When performing seizure mapping, surgeons implant electrodes in many brain areas, while searching for seizure activity,” Jacobs said. “Thus, there many electrodes end up being in normal brain tissue, and they measure neuronal activity that reflects normal brain function – this is the function that we’re studying to learn about the nature of working memory."

Read more