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AAN 2022 | Potential biomarkers to distinguish epilepsy and non-epileptic seizures

William Curt LaFrance Jr, MD MPH, FAAN, FANPA, DFAPA, Brown University, Providence, RI, explains that his lab and several others are looking for biomarkers that can be used to distinguish epilepsy from non-epileptic seizures. These include serological biomarkers, such as brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the plasma. First, his team hypothesized that patients with epilepsy would have higher BDNF levels than patients with non-epileptic seizures, but they found that both patients with epilepsy and patients with non-epileptic seizures had lower BDNF levels than healthy controls. Another class of biomarkers that studies have highlighted differences in is autonomic biomarkers, like differences in ictal and interictal heart rate. Prof. LaFrance’s team is now looking at functional and structural connectivity with functional neuroimaging. This interview took place at the American Academy of Neurology 2022 Congress in Seattle, WA.

Disclosures

Dr. LaFrance has served on the editorial boards of Epilepsia, Epilepsy & Behavior; Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, and Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences; receives editor’s royalties from the publication of Gates and Rowan’s Nonepileptic Seizures, 3rd ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2010) and 4th ed. (2018); author’s royalties for Taking Control of Your Seizures: Workbook and Therapist Guide (Oxford University Press, 2015); has received research support from the Department of Defense (DoD W81XWH-17-0169), NIH (NINDS 5K23NS45902 [PI]), Providence VAMC, Center for Neurorestoration and Neurorehabilitation, Rhode Island Hospital, the American Epilepsy Society (AES), the Epilepsy Foundation (EF), Brown University and the Siravo Foundation; serves on the Epilepsy Foundation New England Professional Advisory Board, the Board of the Functional Neurological Disorder Society, and on the Council of the American Neuropsychiatric Association; has received honoraria for the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting Annual Course; has served as a clinic development consultant at University of Colorado Denver, Cleveland Clinic, Spectrum Health, Emory University, and Oregon Health Sciences University; and has provided medico-legal expert testimony.