News - Research
grants made in 2004 by the Epilepsy Research
Foundation
22 March 2004
The Epilepsy Research Foundation has this
year awarded a total of £190,368 to
four very exciting research projects in
several vital areas of epilepsy research.
Epilepsy in infants
Dr Helen Cross, from the Institute of Child
Health in London, will survey the types
of epilepsy that occur in children less
than two years old. A large proportion but
not all of these children have significant
problems with development, continue to have
seizures, and have learning difficulties
in later childhood. She will evaluate the
types of epilepsy seen in this age group,
and examine the relationship between the
age when seizures began, electrical activity
in the brain and the presence of structural
brain abnormalities.
Grantholder: Dr Helen Cross
Institution: Institute of Child Health,
London
Duration of project: 13 months
Grant made: £54,352.00
Project title: Epilepsy in infancy: spectrum
of aetiologies, natural history and outcome
predictors
Signalling between nerve cells in the
brain
Dr Matthew Walker of the Institute of Neurology,
London, will study an aspect of the behaviour
of the most important inhibitory neurotransmitter
in the brain, GABA. Most work done previously
on GABA has looked at GABA released at the
ends of nerves (synapses). Recent studies
have recognised that GABA in the fluid surrounding
the nerve cell is also important, producing
a separate form of inhibition (tonic inhibition)
from that produced through GABA release
at synapses. Tonic inhibition acts like
a volume control on the excitability of
nerve cells. This project aims to show how
tonic current is affected during the development
of epilepsy, and the effect this has on
excitability in the brain.
Grantholder: Dr Matthew Walker
Institution: Institute of Neurology, London
Duration of project: 12 months
Grant made: £47,844.00
Project title: Tonic GABAA receptor signalling
in epilepsy
The beginnings of seizures
Professor John Jefferys of the University
of Birmingham will be looking at what happens
at the very beginning of a seizure, as small
groups of brain cells begin to fire together
rhythmically and repeatedly, and at a very
high rate. These small groups grow and join
up, until they take up large areas of the
brain. He will investigate brain slices
to find out what makes the first small groups
of neurones fire together; whether the behaviour
of these small groups can be changed using
drugs; and what makes the rate of firing
change as the synchronised area grows. By
looking at what happens at the very beginning
of an epileptic seizure, he hopes to find
a way in which new drugs could target seizures
in their early stages.
Grantholder: Professor John Jefferys
Institution: University of Birmingham
Duration of project: 24 months
Grant made: £65,202.00
Project title: Neuronal aggregate formation
in epileptic foci: a combined clinical and
experimental study
Calcium ion pumps and epilepsy
Mr Thomas Jensen of Royal Holloway College,
London was awarded a two-year Foundation
fellowship to investigate the regulation
of calcium levels in brain cells during
epileptic activity, in particular the role
of molecules called PMCAs that act as 'calcium
pumps'. Seizure activity causes calcium
to flood a cell. Too high a concentration
of calcium can kill brain cells, so these
pumps in the cell membrane push the calcium
out quickly. Having lots of seizures may
cause the pumps to adapt to the new calcium-flooded
conditions, and then be less able to behave
efficiently under normal conditions. This
study will look at how the role of PMCAs
changes under seizure conditions, and will
look at the other conditions that govern
the presence and movements of PMCAs.
Grantholder: Mr Thomas Jensen
Institution: Royal Holloway College, London
Duration of project: 24 months
Grant made: £22,970.00
Project title: The role of plasma membrane
Ca2+ ATPases in the regulation of neuronal
[Ca2+]i in an in vitro model of epilepsy
