The brain has its own thermostat – study shows epilepsy may interfere with it

According to The Conversation (UK), a new study suggests epilepsy may interfere with the brain's own temperature-control system. Researchers found that in mice with a condition resembling temporal lobe epilepsy, the hippocampus ran warmer even before the first seizures appeared, and body temperature rose around individual seizures. They also observed fewer nerve cells in the hypothalamus, the brain's thermostat, along with inflammation and reduced volume. Similar differences appeared in brain scans of people with epilepsy, though the study can't yet prove that disrupted temperature regulation causes seizures. The findings raise the possibility that hot weather could affect some people with epilepsy, a question researchers say is increasingly important as climate change brings more extreme heat.

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