We've updated our Privacy Policy to make it clearer how we use your personal data. We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. You can read our Cookie Policy here.

Advertisement

Researchers find an important clue to potential treatments for absence seizures

Listen with
Speechify
0:00
Register for free to listen to this article
Thank you. Listen to this article using the player above.

Want to listen to this article for FREE?

Complete the form below to unlock access to ALL audio articles.

Read time: 1 minute

Absence seizures are believed to be elicited by T-type calcium channels in the thalamic reticular nucleus of the brain that regulate influxes of calcium. These channels enable thalamic reticular nucleus neurons to generate burst firing, leading the neurons to enter a hyper-excited state.


In order to identify the relationship between burst firing and absence seizures, the researchers conducted an experiment to induce absence seizures in mice using gene targeting techniques to delete the T-type calcium channel CaV3.3. The results showed that mice that received a complete genetic deletion of the T-type calcium channel, which in turn suppressed burst firing in the thalamic reticular nucleus, exhibited an increased frequency of absence seizures.


Moreover, the researchers observed for the first time ever that tonic firing also increased in such mice. The study was the first to discover that tonic firing plays a key role in the induction of absence seizure, which contradicts the existing hypothesis and carries significant implications for absence seizure treatment research.


The study is meaningful in respect to the fact that it calls into question the role of the T-type calcium channel in the reticular thalamus, and is expected to provide an important theoretical foundation for understanding its role in the mechanism of absence seizures, as well as developing effective treatment methods for absence epilepsy.


Note: Material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

Institute for Basic Science   press release


Publication

S.E. Lee, J. Lee, C. Latchoumane, B. Lee, S.-J. Oh, Z.A. Saud, C. Park, N. Sun, E. Cheong, C.-C. Chen, E.-J. Choi, C.J. Lee, H.-S. Shin. Rebound burst firing in the reticular thalamus is not essential for pharmacological absence seizures in mice.   Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Published August 12 2014. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1408609111