£2 million was allocated to develop drugs to prevent seizures in children

Scientists at Aston University have begun working on a project that will look for new drug treatments to prevent seizures
in children.

The three-year Medical Research Council (MRC)-funded project is a collaborative project led by researchers from Aston University's School of Health and Life Sciences, in collaboration
with the University of Bristol and Jazz Pharmaceuticals.
They were awarded £2 million to explore how epilepsy forms in the brain and how to prevent this process
.

The researchers will test the new drug in the human brain, using biopsy samples taken from children with hard-to-treat epilepsy who had to undergo brain surgery
.

Epilepsy is a brain disorder
characterized by seizures.
As Professor Gavin Woodhall, Principal Investigator and Co-Director of the Aston Institute for Health and Neurodevelopment, explains:

"Seizures are periods of time when a network of brain cells becomes too active, uncontrollably excited and surges
.
If uncontrolled excitement spreads to the brain regions that control movement, then too many brain cells 'speak at the same time', we can think of epilepsy as changes in movement, such as tics and tics
.
”

After receiving the grant, Professor Woodhall said: "We will be able to look at epilepsy in detail, and we hope to be able to treat the problems behind epilepsy, not just the seizures themselves
.
" This may help pave the way
for the prevention of childhood epilepsy.

"Essentially, we want to find a treatment that stops the brain from building up seizures
after the first seizure with a new drug treatment.
" We will test a known drug and a new drug to see if this one can do that
.
”

As part of the project's research, the scientists will look at how different levels of epileptic activity in the brain alter the brain's excitability
.
The researchers predict that if seizures are frequent, synapses in the brain will be less active and brain cells will be more likely to proliferate
.

Professor Woodhall added: "That's why we will be testing antiepileptic drugs, as well as new drugs
designed to interfere with homeostasis scaling.
Endostasis scaling is a form of plasticity, in which the brain responds negatively to chronically elevated activity in neural circuits, allowing individual neurons to reduce the overall action potential firing rate
.
”

"By interfering with homeostatic scaling, we will be able to see if they prevent seizures or reduce their intensity
.
"

The research will allow Professor Woodhall and his team to document the life history
of the disease.
This is a detailed study that has never been done before, and it is expected to help shed light on how epilepsy initially develops
in the brain.

After a three-year program, the team will move into drug development, followed by clinical trials
.