Epilepsy research
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Epilepsy is a chronic condition that may be associated with several other diseases. Psychiatric comorbidities are highly prevalent and depression is the most common type of psychiatric comorbidity in people with epilepsy. The beneficial effects of exercise for people with epilepsy have been increasingly reported, including reduction of seizure susceptibility, improvement of quality of life and reduction of depression. In this regard, we propose in this article the potential role of physical exercise to minimize depression in people with epilepsy. ⋯ The significance of such a relationship has a marked impact on the development and implementation of appropriate coadjutant treatments to improve functional outcomes and quality of life in people with epilepsy.
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Multicenter Study
A cross-sectional MRI study of brain regional atrophy and clinical characteristics of temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis.
Applying a cross-sectional design, we set out to further characterize the significance of extrahippocampal brain atrophy in a large sample of 'sporadic' mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE+HS). By evaluating the influence of epilepsy chronicity on structural atrophy, this work represents an important step towards the characterization of MRI-based volumetric measurements as genetic endophenotypes for this condition. ⋯ Our findings confirm that multiple brain regions beyond the hippocampus are involved in the pathogenesis of MTLE+HS. IPIs are an important factor influencing the rate of regional atrophy but our results also support a role for processes related to epilepsy chronicity. The consequence of epilepsy chronicity on candidate brain regions has important implications on their application as genetic endophenotypes.