PEDIATRIC EPILEPSY SURGERY--NEUROMODULATION

这个项目的目的是测试关于 神经调节剂、乙酰胆碱、去甲肾上腺素和多巴胺 癫痫样的大脑。将有两种电生理实验 执行：第一，评估神经调节剂对 新皮质神经元的兴奋性；第二个确定每个 这些神经调节剂与这些氨基酸类神经递质相互作用 神经元。实验将在取自 在手术过程中手术切除的新皮质组织 儿童灾难性癫痫的治疗。大脑样本将是 研究将来自临床定义的皮质异常区 (ZCA)(项目1)。实验将在ZCA的样品上进行 被认为是“最小的”和“最不正常的”。因为新皮质组织 将从年龄从几个月到早期的患者中获得 青少年，也将有可能测试关于 神经调节剂的发育作用。在电生理学之后 实验已经完成，神经元将被标记在细胞内 用生物细胞素来鉴定记录的位置和形态 细胞，并允许进一步的组织学分析。这项研究是关于 氨基酸类神经递质和神经调质之间的相互作用 提供更接近体内情况的体外模型 而不仅仅是对调节剂或神经递质的研究。它是 预计这些实验的结果将对 了解癫痫的发生过程和神经元的关键方面 发展。

This project is designed to test hypotheses concerning the role of the neuromodulators, acetylcholine, norepinephrine, and dopamine in the epileptic brain. Two kinds of electrophysiological experiments will be performed: the first, to assess the effects of the neuromodulators on the excitability of neocortical neurons; the second to determine how each of these neuromodulators interacts with amino acid neurotransmitters in these neurons. Experiments will be conducted on brain slices taken from neocortical tissue that has been surgically removed in the course of treatment for catastrophic childhood epilepsy. The brain samples to be studied will come from the clinically defined Zone of Cortical Abnormality (ZCA) (Project 1). Experiments will be carried out on samples of the ZCA considered to be "least" and "most" abnormal. Because neocortical tissue will be taken from patients ranging in age from a few months to the early teens, it will also be possible to test hypotheses concerning the developmental role of the neuromodulators. After the electrophysiological experiments have been completed, neurons will be marked intracellularly with biocytin to identify the location and morphology of the recorded cells, and to permit further histological analysis. This study of the interactions between amino acid neurotransmitters and neuromodulators will provide an in vitro model more closely resembling the in vivo situation than studies of either modulators or neurotransmitters alone. It is anticipated that the results of these experiments will be important for understanding both the epileptogenic process and key aspects of neuronal development.