New research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may have found [one possible factor] in the form of a micro-gene.
Prof. Hermona Soreq, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel, started out from the hypothesis that healthy brains do not have seizures when exposed to flashing lights or other triggers because of…rapidly inducible microRNAs…To test [her] hypothesis, [she] designed a type of mouse that produces very large amounts of a microRNA called miR-211.
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The new study revealed that once they had their levels of miR-211 lowered, the mice showed signs of epilepsy and a propensity for convulsions…This suggests that miR-211 has a neuroprotective role and is key in preventing epileptic seizures in genetically modified mice.
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As the authors note, previous studies have shown that miR-211 is high in people with Alzheimer’s disease who are also at a higher risk of developing epilepsy. Therefore, the researchers believe that high levels of miR-211 may have the same protective effect in humans.
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