According to a recent study, the combination of supercomputing with the high-speed GÉANT network has made it possible for musicians, neuroscientists and computers scientists to collaborate on how to use music to treat epilepsy. This study was conducted by the Italian Association for the Research on Brain & Spinal Cord Diseases as well as the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan.
During the study, researchers monitored how the patterns of music can be associated with information that has been taken from EEG recordings. The long data sequences were analyzed as researchers used different parameters as well as HD audio that were used for creating the EEG. This significant amount of information requires numerous computers to share processing power just to work; the GÉANT network and its National Research and Education Network had to team up to do this, as well as move the information and save it.
“Using the GÉANT network, we are able to seamlessly transport data to and from scientists all over Europe, enabling a level of collaboration to facilitate medical innovation and scientific research that could have direct implications for the 50 million people worldwide suffering from epilepsy,” says Massimo Rizzi, from the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research and ARCEM.
This new means of gaining, storing and comparing information is expected to be able to provide scientists with a better way to study epilepsy. For example, the sonification tool (which helps create a starting point that shows EEG states) may be better able to highlight the temporal patterns that occur in the EEGs of epileptics, which could also help doctors to see a seizure before it takes place. This would naturally make preventing seizures much easier, since it actually predicts them.
This may be able to help doctors use less prescription medications as well as take some of the guesswork out of dosing. Epilepsy is often treated with dangerous anti-seizure drugs like Topamax, which is linked to babies being born with birth defects including PPHN, oral clefts, spina bifida and neural tube defects when the mothers take the pills while pregnant. Topamax use is often dangerous because doctors have to guess which dosage to use on patients in order to find the right one. Predicting seizures before they happen may help to change that.
If your baby has suffered from birth defects after being exposed to Topamax in-utero, contact attorney Greg Jones today for a free consultation. I am experienced at fighting Topamax lawsuits and may be able to help you recover money for your child’s injury.