SHAKE THAT SEIZURE: HOME > QUESTIONS

What is a seizure?

A seizure is defined as a hyper-synchrony of the brain's network electrical functions. It occurs when the complex network of nerve cells in the brain behave in a synchronized manner rather than in the complex independent way that is considered normal. Often this hyper-synchronus behavior begins within a subnetwork of localized neurons and then recruits adjacent normal behaving brain regions causing them to also behave in this dysfunctional mannner. This resulting explosion of spreading abnormal electrical activity causes even more disruption of brain function and results in the abnormal behavior witnessed during a seizure.

A seizure may cause loss of consciousness, shaking of the extremities or other abnormal movements, staring spells, visual, auditory, or olfactory hallucinations, and/or experiences of feelings such as fear or deja'vu. A typical seizure generally ends by itself without intervention. Recurrent seizures are defined as epilepsy.

There are many causes of a seizure. The brain, when disturbed in any way, may result in a seizure. Infection (such as meningitus or encephalitis), tumor, drugs or medications, strokes, bleeding, congenital malformations, and trauma can cause seizures. A seizure may also be a consequence of common disease states such as diabetes of a fever. When a specific cause of a seizure can not be identified, a seizure is called "idiopathic."

One to two percent of the population has epilepsy. Medications adequately control about three-quarters of all those who have recurrent seizures. When medications fail to control the seizures, a person has "medically refractory seizures" and may be a candidate for surgical management of the seizures. More than 5,000 patients with seizures each year might benefit from surgery. The ultimate goal of surgery is to improve quality of life.

Other candidates for epilepsy surgery in addition to medically refractory patients are people who have certain types of epilepsy syndromes or those who have brain abnormalities that surgery can cure, such as tumors or brain malformations. A comprehensive multi-disciplinary epilepsy center evaluates people with seizures for medical and/or surgical treatment.

Brain Factoids & Trivia:
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• The average brain weighs about 3lbs or 1,400 grams

• The heaviest human brain ever recorded weighed 5 lbs, 1.1 oz or about 2,300 grams

• Albert Einstein’s brain weighed 1,230 grams, far below average

• Albert Einstein did not speak until he was three years old

• The Edwin Smith surgical papyrus, written about 1,700 B.C., contains the first recorded use of the word “brain.”

• The word “brain” appears 66 times in the plays of William Shakespeare

• There are approximately 100 billion neurons in the human brain.

• The Guinness Book world record for staying awake is held by Robert McDonald, who lasted 453 hours and 40 minutes in his rocking chair before succumbing to slumber.

• Information travels along nerves at speeds of up to 288 mph

• Some of the oldest cells in the human body are neurons. They last a lifetime.

• There are an estimated 300,000 sports-related concussions in the United States each year.

• In 1904, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to outlaw football after 19 college football players were killed or paralyzed from brain or spinal cord injuries.

• Bicycle helmets reduce the risk for brain injury by as much as 88%

• People can distinguish between 3,000 and 10,000 different smells

• There are about three million miles of axons in the human brain.

• The corpus callosum, the fiber tract that connects the right and left hemispheres of the brain, contains more than 300 million axons.

• Opossums do not have a corpus callosum.

• The first lobotomy in the United States was performed by Walter Freeman in 1936.

• Cerebrospinal fluid is 99% water.

• The three most common fears are: snakes, heights and flying (in that order)

• The cortex gets its name from the Latin word for “bark” (of a tree).

• There are 186 million more neurons in the left cerebral hemisphere than in the right cerebral hemisphere.

• The outermost covering of the brain is called the “dura mater” – Latin for “hard mother.”

• Myelin, the fatty, insulating material that wraps around some nerve fibers, makes the brain more efficient and allows messages to travel faster. Without myelin, the human brain would have to be ten times bigger.

• The length of myelinated nerve fibers in the brain is 150,000 to 180,000 km

• Birds are insensitive to the effects of hot peppers because they do not have brain receptors for the chemical (capsaicin) that makes hot peppers “hot.”

• The complete inability to taste is called “ageusia” and the reduced ability to taste is called “hypogeusia”

• Bipolar disorder, a serious brain disease that causes extreme shifts in mood, energy, and functioning, affects approximately 2.3 million U.S. adults or about 1.2% of the population.

• The average intelligence quotient (IQ) score is 100.

  68% of the population has IQ scores between 85 and 115

  95% of the population has IQ scores between 70 and 130

  99.7% of the population has IQ scores between 55 and 145

• The human female neocortex contains 19.3 billion neurons

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• The human male neocortex conatains 22.8 billion neurons.

• On average, humans lose one neocortical neuron each second, or approximately 85,000 each day. That’s 31 million each year.

• The esophagus goes right through the brain of the octopus.
  

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Major Brain Areas & Their Function:
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CEREBRUM – The soft, grey, wrinkly mass that makes up 80% of the brain. Controls thinking, memory, speech and muscular movement. Heavily involved with emotional responses. Permits the interplay of emotion and reason.

HIPPOCAMPUS – Consolidates learning and converts information from working memory to long-term storage. Constantly relays back to memory, comparing new information to stored experiences.

AMYGDALA – Encodes an emotional message to all learning that’s transferred to long-term storage – this emotional message is recalled whenever the memory is recalled. Stimulation can produce rage but can also cause fear or pleasure.
CEREBELLUM – Monitors impulses from nerve endings in muscles and coordinates every movement – from itch scratching to sexual thrusting. May also store the memory of rote movements, such as typing and tying a shoelace.

BRAIN STEM – The oldest and deepest part of the brain the brain stem is often referred to as the “reptilian brain.” It is the center of sensory reception, monitoring vital body functions such as heartbeat and body temperature.