Recent research conducted by University of Wisconsin-Madison neuroscientist and psychiatrist Giulio Tononi and funded in part by Lily’s Fund for Epilepsy Research could lead to breakthrough discoveries in the field of epileptic treatment, according to a university news release.
Lily’s Fund, a Madison grassroots group, will donate $100,000 over the next two years to Tononi and his lab for high-density electro-encephalograph technology research, according to the release. Regular EEG equipment monitors brain activity using 19 electrodes attached to a patient’s scalp, whereas HD-EEGs could use up to 256 electrodes, which generates more detailed, but harder to read data.
According to the release, Tononi, whose work during the past 10 years centered on developing software to interpret HD-EEG readouts, will focus now on using the technology to locate the origins of epileptic seizures in the brain.
Statistically, one of every 26 people will be affected by epilepsy over the course of their life. One-third of these patients could require brain surgery, a measure which can only be taken if the source of seizures is known, Tononi said in the release.
He added HD-EEGs could help reduce tests, surgeries and other monitoring procedures for epileptic patients.
“This is a very novel approach—one that might yield insights on the pathophysiology of seizures," Tononi said in the release.
