A new study has found that the slow brain waves typical of sleep occur in epilepsy patients when they are awake, helping to prevent the brain from becoming more excited. These waves reduce epileptic activity while negatively impacting memory, suggesting a potential new therapeutic approach for epilepsy.
UCL researchers have found that slow brain waves commonly seen during sleep occur in epilepsy patients while they are awake, preventing seizures but affecting memory, suggesting a new potential treatment for epilepsy. are doing.
A new study led by researchers at University College London (UCL) has found that slow waves, which normally occur only in the brain during sleep, also occur when epilepsy patients are awake, and show that slow waves, which are associated with epilepsy symptoms, can also occur in the brain during sleep. It was found that there is a possibility of preventing increased excitement.
Methodology and findings
The study was published today (November 30) in the journal nature communications The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) UCLH Biomedical Research Center also took part in conducting electroencephalogram (EEG) scans from electrodes in the brains of 25 patients with focal epilepsy (a type of epilepsy characterized by seizures originating from specific parts of the brain). was inspected. brain), they performed an associative memory task.
Electrodes were placed in the patient’s brain to localize abnormal activity and inform surgical treatment.
During the task, participants were presented with 27 pairs of images that remained on the screen for 6 seconds. The images are divided into nine groups of three, and each group contains photos of people, places, and objects. In each case, participants had to remember which images were grouped together. EEG data were recorded continuously throughout the task.
After reviewing EEG data, the researchers found that the brains of people with epilepsy produce slow waves lasting less than a second while they are awake and participating in tasks.
The occurrence of these “awakening” slow waves increased in response to increased brain excitability, reducing the influence of epileptic spikes on brain activity.
In particular, it reduces the “firing” of nerve cells, which the researchers say can prevent epileptic activity.
Implications and future research
Lead author Professor Matthew Walker (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) said: “Sleep is crucial for repairing, maintaining, and resetting brain activity. When we are awake, our brains gradually become more excitable, which recovers during sleep.
“Recent research has shown that a specific form of brain activity, namely slow waves during sleep, plays an important role in these restorative functions. We believe that these ‘sleep’ slow waves , we wanted to consider whether this could occur during wakefulness in response to the abnormal increase in brain activity associated with epilepsy.
“This study reveals for the first time ‘arousal’ slow waves, a potential protective mechanism used by the brain to counter epileptic activity. This mechanism takes advantage of brain defense activity that normally occurs during sleep, but can also occur during wakefulness in epileptic patients. ”
As part of the study, the team also wanted to test whether the occurrence of “awake” slow waves had a negative impact on cognitive function.
Researchers found that during memory tasks, “awake” slow waves reduced neuronal activity, thus affecting cognitive performance and increasing the time patients needed to complete the task.
The researchers reported that for every additional slow wave per second, reaction time increased by 0.56 seconds.
Professor Walker said: “This observation suggests that the cognitive impairments experienced by epilepsy patients, particularly memory impairments, may be due in part to short-term impairments caused by these slow waves. “
The research team hopes that future studies will increase such activity as a potential new treatment for epilepsy patients.
Lead author Dr Laurent Sheibany (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) said:
“Our study suggests that naturally occurring activity is utilized by the brain to offset pathological activity. However, slow waves of ‘wake’ may have no effect on memory performance. This comes at a cost because we know we give.
“From a purely neurobiological perspective, this study also supports the idea that sleep activity does not occur uniformly throughout the brain, but may occur in specific regions of the brain.”
Reference: “Awakening slow waves in focal human epilepsy affect network activity and cognition” November 29, 2023 nature communications.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42971-3
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42971-3
This research was funded by the Medical Research Council, Wellcome, UCLH Biomedical Research Center and the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Source: scitechdaily.com
