Nonlinear Electrical Control of Epilepsy

描述(由申请人提供)：癫痫发作是一种常见的疾病，困扰着超过250万美国人。这些癫痫发作有时可以通过药物治疗来预防；然而，超过25%的癫痫患者无法通过抗癫痫药物来帮助。对于这些癫痫发作足够严重的患者，剩下的唯一选择是手术切除脑组织，这有时会导致严重的神经功能障碍。这项建议中描述的研究的最终目标是开发一种侵入性更小、潜在破坏性更小的替代手术来治疗药物难治性癫痫患者。总体目标是设计一种在概念上类似于植入式心脏除颤器的设备，它将检测癫痫发作的早期阶段，并通过电刺激防止或恢复癫痫发作。这项研究需要在不同但相关的领域进行探索，如非线性混沌理论和计算机编程，以及实验生物学方面的专业知识。实验将集中在海马体上，这是大脑中一个经常产生癫痫样电活动的区域。继续的实验将进行非线性数学分析，然后在大鼠海马片上测试控制算法，这可以诱导产生类似于整个动物的癫痫行为的自发放电。根据控制算法，将通过电极实施电刺激，以逆转爆炸。由于网络中的神经元动力学可能非常复杂，因此将研究控制和反控制技术。最近在理解和控制混沌系统方面的进展为将这些原理应用于操纵大脑中的病理性电活动提供了一个宝贵的机会。它最终将使预防或恢复大脑癫痫发作的能力成为可能，这将对公众健康和社会总成本节省有巨大的好处。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Epileptic seizures are a common disease that afflicts over 2.5 million Americans. These seizures can sometimes be prevented with pharmaceutical treatment; however, over 25% of epilepsy patients cannot be helped by antiepileptic drugs. For these patients in whom seizures are sufficiently severe, the only remaining option is surgical removal of brain tissue which can sometimes result in severe neurological deficits. The ultimate goal of the research described in this proposal is to develop a less invasive and potentially far less damaging alternative to surgery for drug-refractory epilepsy patients. The overall objective is to engineer a device similar in concept to an implantable cardiac defribrillator in that it would detect the earliest stages of a seizure and prevent or revert it using electrical stimulation. This research requires exploration in diverse but related fields such as nonlinear chaos theory and computer programming as well as expertise in experimental biology. Experiments will be focused on the hippocampus, a region of the brain that is a frequent foci for generation of epileptiform electical activity. Continuing experiments will perform nonlinear mathematical analysis followed by testing of control algorithms on rat hippocampal slices which can be induced to produce spontaneous discharges analogous to epileptic behavior seen in whole animals. Electrical stimulation will be applied via an electrode according to control algorithms to revert the bursting. Because neuronal dynamics in a network can be quite complex, techniques of both control and anti-control will be researched. Recent advances in understanding and controlling chaotic systems have provided an invaluable opportunity to apply these principles toward manipulation of pathological electrical activity in the brain. It would ultimately permit the ability to prevent or revert seizures in the brain which would have enormous benefits to public health as well as overall cost savings to society.