Epilepsy Action Research Grants Programme 2008-2009

Research grants

UK Anti-epileptic drug register

Dr Udo Wieshmann, The Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Liverpool
Professor Gus Baker, University of Liverpool

£10,000 – one year

Lay description 

There are over 440,000 people in the UK who have been diagnosed with epilepsy and are taking anti -epileptic drugs (AEDs). There has been an unprecedented increase in the number of AEDs for the treatment of epilepsy over the last 20 years. However, AEDs may cause side effects. Unfortunately, there is often a long delay between the introduction of an AED and the recognition of side-effects by doctors. The aim of the research is to find out the frequency of AED side-effects by asking patients. 

This will be done by setting up a UK AED register which will record the effectiveness and side-effects of AEDS. The register will initially be open to people with epilepsy in the Mersey area, but will then be rolled out across the UK.   

Neuropsychological profiles of patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) and their siblings.

Dr Susan Duncan, Western General Hospital Edinburgh
Dr Helen Caswell, Greater Manchester Neurosciences Centre, Salford
Dr David Gillespie, Astley Ainslie Hospital, Edinburgh
Dr John Paul Leach, Southern General Hospital, Glasgow

£42,556 – 36 months

Lay description

JME constitutes 12 percent of all epilepsies. In some cases there are subtle abnormalities in the frontal lobes on MRI scanning, and there has been speculation that JME is associated with frontal lobe or executive dysfunction. The frontal lobes are important for planning, problem solving, memory and social interactions. They provide the motivation and cognitive capacity that get us through our daily tasks, and generate language. All these roles are called executive functions.

The study will address three questions:

• Are people with JME more likely to exhibit signs of executive dysfunction using routine psychometric tests compared with a sibling and control? Siblings are included because there is a genetic aspect to JME. Close relatives can have abnormal EEGs. We want to know if they have subtle executive dysfunction. 
• Are people with JME more likely to display behaviours in keeping with executive dysfunction compared to a control and sibling?
• Does mental effort trigger brief epileptic discharges in JME patients, potentially disrupting how new memories are formed? This will have implications for how people with JME learn.

The study will provide insights enabling the development of patient centred services for people with epilepsy with executive dysfunction.

Sleep quality and daytime neurobehavioral functioning in childhood epilepsy

Dr Catherine M Hill, University of Southampton
Professor Fenella Kirkham, University of Southampton
Dr Andrea Whitney, Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust
Dr Anke Karl. University of Southampton

£14,988 – 9 months

UK Anti-epileptic drug register

Dr Udo Wieshmann, The Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Liverpool
Professor Gus Baker, University of Liverpool

£10,000 – one year

Three year PhD Studentship

Conversational analysis in epilepsy encounters: third party references and accompanying others

Supervisors: Dr Paul Drew, University of York; Dr Markus Reuber, University of Sheffield

Conversation analysis of epilepsy encounters: communication between seizure patients and their doctors (and third parties)

This doctoral research, to be conducted at the University of York, is designed to improve our understanding of the communication between people with epilepsy (PWE) and their doctors. Specifically, the research will focus on patients’ descriptions of their seizure episodes. Previous research has shown that, in the absence of definitive bio-medical or neurological diagnostic evidence, these descriptions play a key role in diagnosis. Moreover, patients’ accounts provide an insight into how patients are coping with their condition. Learning more about this will allow doctors to make more accurate diagnoses and provide the most suitable treatment for their patients.

Using the methodology of Conversation Analysis, which is proving immensely valuable in the study of medical interactions, we aim first to replicate and test previous findings. Using existing transcripts and new recordings of interviews with seizure patients, we will focus on patients’ references to third parties, as characters in their accounts (for instance as witnesses); and to the role played by third parties – e.g. family members – when they are present in the medical consultations, and can contribute to the emerging picture. Learning more about the communicative functions of third party references and the interactional involvement of accompanying persons will allow doctors to understand their patients better and to provide more targeted support.