Epilepsy, or commonly known as "seizure", is caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain; and results in uncontrollable muscle movement (convulsions), and can even result in loss of consciousness. Epilepsy is common, and there are more than 200,000 cases per year. Because Epilepsy is caused by uncontrollable neural activity, it is necessary to quiet the activity of the brain. It is shown that miniature micro coil stimulation can block action potentials and there is evidence for this. Therefore in this blog, first the details of epilepsy will be explored in the zebrafish. Then, a possible solution to cure epilepsy will be discussed through a paper that calls for the ability of magnetic microstimulation to block action potentials.
In the paper titled "Optical mapping of Neuronal activity during Seizures in Zebrafish", seizures were induced in zebrafish embryos using pentylenetetrazole (PTZ), because this substance induces seizure-like behavior in zebrafish. Zebrafish are used because they have been shown to have strong applications in neuroscience and zebrafish possess many analogous brain structures in humans which result in similar pathologies of diseases, therefore seizures in zebrafish are extraordinarily similar to seizures in humans. Therefore, the mechanisms of seizures were determined in the zebrafish; it is shown that with an increased administration of PTZ, seizures increase in a linear fashion. This paper goes more in-depth on the production of seizures and specific brain structures, but the main idea is that there is an uncontrollable neural activity that causes these seizures and this is observed in the zebrafish through the administration of PTZ.
Another paper titled Axonal Blockage With Microscopic Magnetic Stimulation, it is demonstrated that a magnetic coil that is of miniature size can reduce the effects of uncontrolled neuronal firing. more specifically, these mini magnetic coils can block action potentials from even occurring. In this study, the Aplysia mollusk was used due to having a simple nervous system, and it was shown that implantation of these miniature coils can prevent an action potential from spreading. Therefore, the paper insists that these micro coils can provide alternatives to diseases that arise from uncontrolled neuronal activity such as epilepsy.
By combining these two papers I assert that micro coils can be a potential cure for epilepsy. Broadly speaking, the ability to stop action potentials in its track can allow for micro coils to emerge as a fundamental treatment to epilepsy. Although there is much more to discover about the ability of micro coils to prevent epilepsy, we must remain optimistic and believe that it can be done. there are many questions left unanswered, such as what is the extent to which a micro coil can reduce neuronal activity? or how many miniature micro coils are needed to prevent a seizure from occurring? We do not know the specifics of it yet, however, the future is promising and there are certainly many uses for micro coils in the future that will be utilized.
In fact, there have already been promising uses of deep brain stimulation in reducing the effects of epilepsy, however, more work is needed to fully cure the disease.
Works Cited;
Turrini, L., Fornetto, C., Marchetto, G. et al. Optical mapping of neuronal activity during seizures in zebrafish. Sci Rep 7, 3025 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03087-z
Skach, J., Conway, C., Barrett, L. et al. Axonal blockage with microscopic magnetic stimulation. Sci Rep 10, 18030 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-74891-3
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