Detection of temporal-lobe epilepsy with the physiological responses to fear and anxiety

Abstract

Epilepsy is a neurological disease caused by an abnormal neuronal activity on a region of the brain, which provokes seizures and the loss of consciousness to its patients. Epilepsy can be very disabling, since patients do not know when crisis or seizures are going to occur. The epilepsy we will focus on is "temporal lobe epilepsy", which is caused because of an abnormal neuronal activity on the temporal lobe. Before the development of an onset, the brain's temporal lobe -and consequently, the amygdala- are activated. Once having assured the relationship between the amygdala and an onset, the project will analyse the relationship between high levels of fear and anxiety -related with amygdala functions- and the development of a seizure. After determining what the relationship between fear and anxiety and the start of the seizure is, the project aims to develop a device that can do that by itself. The device will detect the patients' heart rate -since it is the main reaction to fear- and, when the heart rate is high enough to develop into a seizure, it will warn the patient. Thanks to that, epilepsy patients will live less anxious, since they will know when a seizure is going to happen and they will be able prevent themselves from the damages which might occur.