The cerebellum contributes to generalized seizures by altering activity in the ventral posteromedial nucleus

What is the role of the cerebellum in epilepsy? As neuroscientists,  Drs. Heck and Liu from the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Medical School, Duluth campus, study the disease in their lab. Recently, they contributed to a study, showing the role of the cerebellum in epilepsy. The manuscript reporting their results was recently accepted for publication in the journal Communications Biology.

Epilepsy is a devastating disease that has many possible causes, including inherited imbalances of excitatory and inhibitory neuronal interactions, tumors, strokes, and other forms of brain damage. Some forms of epilepsy are resistant to pharmacological treatments, requiring major brain surgery to remove diseased tissue in an effort to prevent or reduce the severity of seizures. Drs. Liu and Heck contributed to a study showing that the cerebellum plays a crucial role in the initiation of seizures via the cerebello-thalamo-cortical network. These new insights might be useful in the development of treatments for epilepsy using non-invasive techniques to manipulate neuronal activity in the cerebellum. Full article here.