This discovery, published in the journal Neurosciences, makes it possible to understand the mechanisms of development of epilepsy and could be a first step towards a preventive treatment.
Frontal lobe epilepsy often occurs following an initial attack on the brain such as meningitis or head trauma. Memory and learning disorders are often associated with the development of the disease.
Studies by researchers from Inserm unit 751 “Epilepsy and cognition” have discovered, after tests on animals, that the origin of these disorders could help prevent the disease before it really appears, often years later, after the initial assault on the brain.
And to conclude, “an early identification of people on the path to epilepsy, a process that can last decades, would make it possible to provide preventive treatment, in order to delay or block the onset of the disease”.
According to Inserm, epilepsy affects between 500 and 750,000 people in France and 1 to 2% of the world population. It is the most common neurological disease after migraine.
