Epilepsy Research Targets New Type of Brain Cell

A frequent condition developing after a closed head injury is traumatically induced epilepsy. Now, a new study suggests that drug companies have been targeting the wrong type of brain cells to control the seizures that develop. 

Epilepsy researchers may have spent decades studying and treating the wrong population of brain cells, and consequently drug companies may have to start developing new medicines to treat the disease, according to a new study.

While most researchers have targeted neurons, the study suggests that it is the brain's abundant support cells - the astrocytes - that are the key to epilepsy, which affects about 2 million Americans.
It has long been thought that anti-epileptic drugs target the synapse - the gap between neurons that allows one cell to send messages to the next cell. Quieting the synapse, drug developers thought, prevented abnormal firing of neurons. But,  this new study also found that the anti-epileptic medicines also slow down astrocyte activity, which explains why medicines work in two of every three patients.  Click here to read more information.