Epilepsy and neurodegeneration : disease mechanisms and early detection

Epilepsy is most common in people aged >65 years, can lead to cognitive impairment similar to early stages of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), with memory impairment and ongoing decline often a more significant clinical burden in epilepsy patients than seizures themselves. In a well-characterised adult epilepsy surgical series we will investigate whether we can find changes in brain specimens of people with epilepsy who had surgery in the past, or are about to undergo surgery, that are also known to occur in neurodegenerative conditions or "tauopathies", like AD or chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy. We will compare pathological changes with results from repeat neuroimaging and cognitive studies in the same individual up to 20 years following surgery, or with imaging before and after surgery. In tissue cultures we will explore unique cellular drivers for these pathological processes, which could be potential therapeutic targets not only for people with epilepsy, but also with other neurological conditions.