Abstract

Efficacy of electrical brain stimulation in epilepsy

Author(s): Peter Widdess-Walsh, Christoph Kellinghaus, Eric Geller, Frank Bosebeck, Stephan Schuele and Tobias Loddenkemper

The brain, in a similar fashion to the heart, is an electrical organ. Antiepileptic medication fails to control seizures in approximately 30% of patients with epilepsy, requires local concentration in the brain following gastrointestinal absorption and has frequent, sometimes serious, side effects. Using electrical brain stimulation therapy to directly modulate neuronal discharges (the origin and basis of seizure activity) holds much promise to reduce seizures in a substantial proportion of patients with refractory epilepsy. Electrical brain stimulation is at the interface of biology, medicine and engineering.