Electrical Stimulation for Epilepsy: Experimental Approaches

Efficacy of electrical brain stimulation in epilepsy

Approximately 30% of epilepsy patients do not respond to antiepileptic medication, and often require polytherapy and suffer its side effects [1]. Epilepsy therapeutics has seen increasing numbers of antiepileptic drugs, without an increased level of efficacy [2]; therefore, alternative treatments are needed. Based on experimental evidence that electrical stimulation of various targets can suppr...

Electrical stimulation for drug-resistant epilepsy: an evidence-based analysis.

OBJECTIVE The objective of this analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness of deep brain stimulation (DBS) and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) for the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy in adults and children. DATA SOURCES A literature search was performed using MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination database, for studies published from January 200...

Toward rational design of electrical stimulation strategies for epilepsy control.

Electrical stimulation is emerging as a viable alternative for patients with epilepsy whose seizures are not alleviated by drugs or surgery. Its attractions are temporal and spatial specificity of action, flexibility of waveform parameters and timing, and the perception that its effects are reversible unlike resective surgery. However, despite significant advances in our understanding of mechan...

Closed-loop control of epilepsy by transcranial electrical stimulation.

Many neurological and psychiatric diseases are associated with clinically detectable, altered brain dynamics. The aberrant brain activity, in principle, can be restored through electrical stimulation. In epilepsies, abnormal patterns emerge intermittently, and therefore, a closed-loop feedback brain control that leaves other aspects of brain functions unaffected is desirable. Here, we demonstra...

Electrical Stimulation and Glutamate in the Hippocampus of Epilepsy Patients