BGU Students Take First Place at President’s Conference Competition for Groundbreaking Neuroscience Research
BGU Students Take First Place at President’s Conference Competition for Groundbreaking Neuroscience Research
June 26, 2013
A group of Ph.D. students from Prof. Alon Friedman’s Laboratory for Experimental Neurosurgery at BGU took first place in a research competition at the recent Israeli President’s Conference in Jerusalem.
The group’s research focuses on acquired epilepsy, a common complication following brain injuries such as trauma, stroke, and tumors. In their laboratory at BGU, the group is working on preventing this disease and developing diagnostic methods for identifying patients who are at higher risk.
The BGU students’ groundbreaking research shows that the breaking of the blood-brain barrier, a complex structure that regulates the passage of substances between the blood and brain tissue, plays a major role in the development of epilepsy following brain injury.
In cooperation with scientists from the University of Berlin and the University of Berkeley, the BGU researchers discovered a broken blood brain barrier impedes nerve function and causes brain damage.
In addition, they found that the pathological process following the breaking of the blood brain barrier begins with albumin leakage, the most abundant protein in the blood, from blood vessels into the brain tissue.
Their findings show that albumin binds to receptors on glial cells (“support cells” in the brain) and activates a specific mechanism that controls inflammatory response and neural excitation.
Based on these discoveries, the researchers have identified a pharmacological method to prevent epilepsy following head injuries, and have demonstrated its effectiveness in animals.
Additionally, they have developed MRI techniques that allow reliable detection of disturbances in the blood-brain barrier functioning in patients following a brain injury. These methods are designed to identify patients at risk for epileptic seizures, and additional brain complications, as candidates for preventive treatment.
View video illustrating the blood brain barrier >>
Read more about brain research at BGU >>
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