Principal Investigator
Professor David Henshall, FutureNeuro & RCSI
Investment
€235,877, over three years. 50% of the funding for this project has been made available by the Health Research Board (HRB) through the Joint Funding Scheme operated by the HRB and Health Research Charities Ireland, of which Epilepsy Ireland is a member. Epilepsy Ireland will fund the other 50%.
About the Project
Under certain circumstances, people living with epilepsy whose seizures do not respond to medication decide to undergo brain surgery. When this is the case, the neurosurgeon identifies and removes the part of the brain where the seizures originate. The process of precisely locating where seizures begin can be quite challenging, even after brain scans and electrical recordings from the brain’s surface. To help with this, neurosurgeons use a robot-guided system to implant electrodes deep inside the brain, a procedure known as stereo-electroencephalography (SEEG).
Recently, researchers discovered that the surface of these electrodes, once removed, contains trace amounts of biological material that can be used to identify which genes are active (or "switched on"). By studying these samples, this study hopes to:
- Learn about the biology of the living brain in the area where seizures start.
- Gain a better understanding of the differences between the area where seizures begin and the areas where they spread in the brain.
- Explore whether these biological markers could help predict surgical outcomes, including how well a patient responds to surgery and whether the likelihood of epilepsy returning can be predicted more accurately.
- Potentially identify new genes that may be associated with epilepsy.
This project represents an exciting interdisciplinary collaboration between teams of scientists and clinicians, informed and shaped by patient involvement.