Researchers from the University of California in the US have used a method called optogenetics to find a new possible treatment for seizures.
Optogenetics uses a harmless virus to deliver light-sensitive genes to a particular set of neurons, which allows them to be switched on and off using pulses of light.
In their research, published in November in Nature Neuroscience, the scientists used optogenetics in human brain tissue which had been removed from epilepsy patients during surgery as part of their epilepsy treatment.
The researchers say this was the first demonstration of the use of optogenetics in human brain tissue.
The team hope that, eventually, this technique could replace epilepsy surgery for people with refractory focal seizures.
Assistant professor of neurological surgery and study author, Dr Tomasz Nowakowski, said: “This represents a giant step toward a powerful new way of treating epilepsy and likely other conditions.”
Working across campuses in Berkeley, Santa Cruz and San Francisco, the researchers also wrote software that allowed the team to record electrical activity and deliver light pulses using remote control.
Dr Edward Chang, chair of neurological surgery at UCSF, said this could revolutionise care for people with epilepsy. “We’ll be able to give people much more subtle, effective control over their seizures while saving them from such an invasive surgery.”
The study is available online.
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