HOMEOSTATIC PLASTICITY
We are discovering changes in plasticity that contribute to and sustain epileptogenesis, with a view to understand the complex molecular, cellular and network-level pathologies that emerge in chronic diseases such as epilepsy.
Plasticity during epileptogenesis
Epileptogenesis is the process of development of chronic epilepsy following an initial insult. During this period brain circuitry is altered due to many modifications at the molecular, cellular and network level. Exactly how, when and where these modifications occur depends on the initial insult but it will always generate an imbalance in the excitation/inhibition ratio leading to seizures and chronic epilepsy. In the lab we are trying to better define how neuronal networks are altered during epileptogenesis in different animal models, and to develop a possible treatment for these modifications.
