Uncovering the mechanisms linking epilepsy and Alzheimer’s Disease with computational genetics

Study overview

by Dr Loretta Piccenna, Department of Neuroscience

People living with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) have an increased risk of developing seizures, in fact a 10-fold risk which grows higher in people with early onset or familial AD. Conversely, people with epilepsy have a high risk of developing dementia*, suggesting a bidirectional relationship between the two neurological diseases.

Researchers from the Kwan group within the Department of Neuroscience have found two synaptic signalling-associated modules driven by the SCN3B and EPHA4 genes and and two neurogenesis-associated modules driven by the GABRB3 and SCN2A to be dysregulated in brain tissue samples of people with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), indicating similar rewiring that may be involved in the molecular mechanisms.