Publications by authors named "Christi N Heck"

A sparse Laguerre-Volterra autoregressive model has been developed as feature extraction from subdural human EEG data for seizure prediction in temporal lobe epilepsy. The use of Laguerre-Volterra kernel can compactly yield an autoregressive model of longer system memory without increasing the number of the coefficients. In 6 sets of seizure, we used a sparse Laguerre-Volterra autoregressive model with 6 coefficients and the decay parameter of 0.

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Inter-ictal activity is studied in hippocampal slices resected from patients with epilepsy using local field potential recording. Inter-ictal activity in the dentate gyrus (DG) is induced by high-potassium (8 mM), low-magnesium (0.25 mM) aCSF with additional 100 μM 4-aminopyridine(4-AP).

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New interventions using neuromodulatory devices such as vagus nerve stimulation, deep brain stimulation and responsive neurostimulation are available or under study for the treatment of refractory epilepsy. Since the actual mechanisms of the onset and termination of the seizure are still unclear, most researchers or clinicians determine the optimal stimulation parameters through trial-and-error procedures. It is necessary to further explore what types of electrical stimulation parameters (these may include stimulation frequency, amplitude, duration, interval pattern, and location) constitute a set of optimal stimulation paradigms to suppress seizures.

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Epilepsy is a medical syndrome that produces seizures affecting a variety of mental and physical functions. The actual mechanisms of the onset and termination of the seizure are still unclear. While medical therapies can suppress the symptoms of seizures, 30% of patients do not respond well.

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Objective: To explore the safety and efficacy of external trigeminal nerve stimulation (eTNS) in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) using a double-blind randomized controlled trial design, and to test the suitability of treatment and control parameters in preparation for a phase III multicenter clinical trial.

Methods: This is a double-blind randomized active-control trial in DRE. Fifty subjects with 2 or more partial onset seizures per month (complex partial or tonic-clonic) entered a 6-week baseline period, and then were evaluated at 6, 12, and 18 weeks during the acute treatment period.

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The purpose of this prospective observational investigation was to determine whether the frequency of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and the severity of PMDD symptoms differ between women with epilepsy and controls without epilepsy and whether there exists a relationship between the severity of PMDD symptoms and some epileptic, antiepileptic drug, and reproductive endocrine features. The results suggest that epilepsy, antiepileptic drug levels, ovulatory status, and hormone levels and ratios may all influence PMDD in women with epilepsy. PMDD severity scores may be greater in people with right-sided than in those with left-sided epilepsy, and in people with temporal than in those with nontemporal epileptic foci.

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