Between 0.6% and 0.7% of the French population would be affected by epilepsy. Yet, according to researchers from the National Institute of Health (Inserm), “the epileptic seizure exists in a latent state in all brains.” The team of doctors Viktor Jirsa and Christophe Bernard has developed a mathematical model of epilepsy, published by the journal Brain.
In the study, they explain that seizures obey very simple mathematical rules, despite the diversity of its forms ranging from loss of consciousness to a tenuous muscle contraction or an absence of just a few seconds.
Interviewed by the Figaro, Christophe Barnard explains the mechanism of crises of epilepsy thanks to a very simple image: “The brain would be a landscape where a character walks. But in this region stand forbidden castles: if you enter there, you have an epileptic fit.”
A form of primitive activity
The castles are surrounded by walls, which are more fragile or more solid depending on the age. “These walls are also passable by the young adult if an extreme event (head trauma, electroshock …) catapults him within the castle”, he says. “The epileptic seizure is perhaps the most primitive form of activity the brain can generate.”
Epilepsy, the most common neurological disease after migraine, is fairly well controlled today: the only constraint being daily medication. Thanks to the model developed by Inserm researchers, new, more personalized treatments can be developed.
