Stanford Comprehensive Epilepsy Program News and Events
- Neurology Today
During Pregnancy and Postpartum, Women with Epilepsy Have Higher Rates of Depression
A Neurology study found that psychiatric symptoms occur at higher rates during pregnancy and postpartum in women with epilepsy. Experts recommend that neurologists conduct routine assessments and treatment when the symptoms occur during pregnancy and the postpartum period.
- STAT
The brain ‘learns’ to have seizures more efficiently and frequently over time, mouse study shows
Drs. Juliet Knowles, John Huguenard and Michelle Monje led studies which demonstrated that activity-dependent myelin plasticity, which occurs in the setting of seizures, can promote further seizure progression. This is the first demonstration of maladaptive myelination: activity-dependent myelination that promotes a disease process.
- Neurology Today
Breastfeeding Is Safe for Children of Women with Epilepsy on Antiseizure Medication
In an ongoing multicenter NIH study of pregnancy outcomes in women with epilepsy, Dr. Meador and colleagues found that breastfeeding while taking antiseizure medications did not have any adverse effects on the child’s cognitive function at age 3 years old. This may be in part because the concentrations of antiseizure medications are much lower in these child than their mothers. Given the multiple known benefits of breastfeeding to the mother and child, Dr. Meador encourages women with epilepsy to breastfeed.
- Consumer Health News | HealthDay
Reassuring News for Women Taking Epilepsy Meds While Pregnant
Toddlers whose mothers took certain epilepsy drugs during pregnancy are unlikely to have development delays, according to a new study led by Kimford Meador, professor of neurology and neurological sciences.
- Child Neurology Foundation
Pediatric Epilepsy Research Foundation Elterman Research Grant
Congratulations to Juliet Knowles, MD, PhD, Instructor of Neurology & Neurological Sciences, the 2020 PERF Elterman Research Grant Recipient for her project "Targeting Aberrant Activity-Dependent Myelination in Absence Epilepsy".
- Neurology Today
Epileptic High-Frequency Oscillations Disrupt Cognition in Human Brain
A new study demonstrates that there are normal physiological responses to cognitive stimuli in non-lesional epileptic tissue unless there is ongoing spontaneous high-frequency oscillation. Josef Parvizi, MD, PhD, professor of neurology and neurological sciences, is quoted in this article.
- Forbes
Digital Health Trial Uses AI For Better Epilepsy Treatment Decisions
More than 65 million people around the world are affected by epilepsy. Choosing from over 14,000 different treatment scenarios to decide which drugs might be best for a child or a loved one can be daunting. Robert Fisher, MD, PhD, professor of neurology and neurological sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine and director of the Stanford Epilepsy Center is the principal investigator of the AI epilepsy trial. The new trial’s goal is to help determine the precision of epilepsy treatment options incorporating many “real world” variables.
- Healthier, Happy Lives Blog
ROSA(tm) and Minimally Invasive Brain Surgery May Cure Epilepsy
Gerald Grant, MD, Neurosurgery Division Chief, and pediatric epilepsy neurologists with the Packard Children’s Pediatric Epilepsy Center, gives kids with uncontrolled epileptic seizures a powerful option to explore when medications are not working by using the ROSA robot. Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital is the first hospital in Northern California to have ROSA.
- Stanford News Center
Study shows why even well-controlled epilepsy can disrupt thinking
Transient bursts of high-frequency electrical activity in epileptic brain tissue can impair cognition even when no seizure is occurring, Stanford scientists have found.
- Stanford Medicine - Our Patients
When It Matters Most: Bicyclist Finds New "Roads" to Conquer After Traumatic Brain Injury
Brett’s cross-country bicycling trip from Santa Barbara to South Carolina ended abruptly, 1,000 miles short of its final destination. While crossing through Oklahoma, Brett fell, ending his dreams of completing a coast-to-coast charity ride, and nearly ending his life. Brett spent eight days in the ICU, where a team of trauma and brain injury specialists managed his inter-cranial pressure, blood pressure, temperature and seizures to minimize the cascade of secondary injuries that can occur after a traumatic brain injury.
- Stanford News Center
5 Questions: Robert Fisher on deep-brain stimulation for drug-resistant epilepsy
The FDA has approved the use of an implanted device that releases periodic electrical discharges in the brain to counteract seizures in people with epilepsy. In an interview, neurologist Robert Fisher described the technology and Stanford’s role in testing the device.
- Stanford Scope Blog
A look into the causes of epilepsy with a Stanford neuroscientist
John Huguenard and his team are learning what role electrical excitability of brain cells plays in epilepsy — and how we might someday control it.