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Use of Optogenetic Methods to Study and Suppress Epileptic Activity (review)

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About one per cent of the world’s population suffers from epilepsy, and approximately 30% of cases fail to respond to medication. Novel approaches to treatment are required to help patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. One potential method consists of low-frequency stimulation of brain structures. However, at this time the mechanism of the anticonvulsant action of low-frequency stimulation is not completely understood. There are significant drawbacks to this method: it is invasive in nature and has nonspecific actions on brain tissues, which leads to various side effects. The development of optogenetics has provided a new impulse to studies of the mechanisms of action of low-frequency stimulation on epileptic activity. In addition, there is hope for significant reductions in the side effects of stimulation, as there is potential for selective activation or, conversely, inhibition of particular neuron populations. This review describes current progress in studies of the mechanisms of the generation and suppression of epileptic activity using an optogenetic method in in vitro and in vivo models of epilepsy. The potentials of this approach for clinical use are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia

    E. Yu. Smirnova & A. V. Zaitsev

  2. Ioffe Physicotechnical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia

    E. Yu. Smirnova

Authors
  1. E. Yu. Smirnova
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  2. A. V. Zaitsev
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Correspondence to E. Yu. Smirnova.

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Translated from Rossiiskii Fiziologicheskii Zhurnal imeni I. M. Sechenova, Vol. 104, No. 6, pp. 620–629, June, 2018.

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Smirnova, E.Y., Zaitsev, A.V. Use of Optogenetic Methods to Study and Suppress Epileptic Activity (review). Neurosci Behav Physi 49, 1083–1088 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-019-00842-9

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