A small group of brain cells linked in a circuit is responsible for setting off whole-brain seizures in a rare form of epilepsy affected by blood sugar levels, a study led by UT Southwestern researchers suggests. The finding, published in Science Translational Medicine, could lead to new treatments for other metabolic disorders in the brain, the authors said.
Positron emission tomography (PET) images of mouse brains in the study show decreased brain glucose with GLUT1 (G1D) deficiency relative to normal (control). The color scale at right indicates the amount of glucose present, increasing up the scale.