Tests to zap seizures

A WORLD-first trial will deliver electrical pulses to the “master control centre” in the brain, aiming to halt seizures and restore clear thinking in those whose severe epilepsy doesn’t respond to treatment.

Victorians with LennoxGastaut syndrome, an aggressive type of daily epilepsy that typically appears in childhood and causes learning difficulties, are the first to be enrolled in the Deep Brain Stimulation trial led by Austin Health and the University of Melbourne.

Medication or surgery don’t work for a quarter of epilepsy patients, and the syndrome also causes “drop attacks”.

Neurologist and lead investigator Dr John Archer said this syndrome had a “double whammy” of damage injuries and anxiety, but it also hijacked the brain’s “thinking” networks.