1. Neuron-glia interactions in the pathophysiology of epilepsy
- Author
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Dipan C. Patel, Bhanu P. Tewari, Lata Chaunsali, and Harald Sontheimer
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Neurological disorder ,Neurotransmission ,Inhibitory postsynaptic potential ,Synaptic Transmission ,Article ,03 medical and health sciences ,Epilepsy ,0302 clinical medicine ,medicine ,Premovement neuronal activity ,Animals ,Humans ,Neurons ,Microglia ,business.industry ,General Neuroscience ,medicine.disease ,030104 developmental biology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,nervous system ,Excitatory postsynaptic potential ,Neuron ,business ,Neuroscience ,Neuroglia ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder afflicting ~65 million people worldwide. It is caused by aberrant synchronized firing of populations of neurons primarily due to imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission. Hence, the historical focus of epilepsy research has been neurocentric. However, the past two decades have enjoyed an explosion of research into the role of glia in supporting and modulating neuronal activity, providing compelling evidence of glial involvement in the pathophysiology of epilepsy. The mechanisms by which glia, particularly astrocytes and microglia, may contribute to epilepsy and consequently could be harnessed therapeutically are discussed in this Review.
- Published
- 2019