Epilepsy and neurodegeneration: disease mechanisms and early detection
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Epiphany: Epilepsy and neurodegeneration: disease mechanisms and early detection
IRAS ID
306990
Contact name
Matthias Koepp
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 3 months, 31 days
Research summary
Epilepsy can lead to cognitive impairment similar to early stages of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), with memory impairment and cognitive decline representing a more significant and debilitating co-morbidity than the seizures themselves. Cognitive decline is poorly understood with an urgent clinical need for diagnostic, preventative and treatment strategies.
Large epilepsy MRI datasets confirm progressive brain shrinkage with age-accelerated accumulation of Tau protein.
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.REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/EM/0066
Date of REC Opinion
15 Aug 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion