Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a mysterious illness. In epilepsy, intense bursts of too much electricity in the brain cause events that are known as seizures. Symptoms range in severity from a momentary interruption of normal function to convulsions and loss of consciousness.
While known causes of epilepsy include genetics, trauma, illness and other factors, a definitive cause cannot be found for about 70 percent of the approximately 3 million Americans who suffer from epilepsy. Drugs can provide effective disease management in many cases, but more effective therapies are needed.
Epilepsy research at The Jackson Laboratory
Our research focuses on the genetics underlying unusual electrical activity in the brain, with an emphasis on inherited epilepsy. Research into absence epilepsy, a form frequently diagnosed in children and characterized by brief losses of consciousness, seeks to characterize the mutations that are associated with absence seizures.
