Rima Al Mosawy
Pronouns: She/Her
Research Mentor(s): Wei-Chih Chang
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Neurology / Medicine
Program:
Authors: Rima Al Mosawy, William Stacey, Geoffrey Murphy, Wei-Chih Chang
Session: Session 4: 1:40 pm – 2:30 pm
Poster: 15
Abstract
Epileptic seizures emerge abruptly and are difficult to predict. A seizure is characterized by high-frequency bursts of action potential in addition to the synchronization of a population of neurons. The transition in the neuronal network from normal brain activity to uncontrolled bursting of nerve cells is not associated with detectable morphological changes. Thus, there is no biomarker to indicate when seizures are approaching. Seizure prediction mainly relies on the pre-seizure transforms of electrographic reading of brains; however, tracing the numeric variances alone often fails in previous seizure prediction. This suggests that the biological mechanisms leading to seizures are not fully understood or considered in predicting seizures. The purpose of this research is to modify an acute in vitro model of epilepsy that will advance in studying the subcellular activities promoting seizures and in seizure prediction. I prepared hippocampal slices (400 µm thick) from adult mice and transferred them to a hybrid chamber for local field potential recording from the CA1 region of the hippocampus. Ion concentrations of the perfusing medium (artificial cerebrospinal fluid), temperature, and other holding conditions were adjusted in order to increase neuronal firing rate and induce seizures. We found that increased temperature, increased potassium concentration, and removal of magnesium promoting the chance of repeated seizures in most slices. The quantity and quality of seizures are correlated with the recording conditions, and I conclude the ideal environment of this model for future use.
