Mark O. Cunningham
University of Dublin – Dublin, Ireland.
Senior Lecturer in Neuronal Dynamics.
LECTURE: Human Brain Slices for Epilepsy Research: Pitfalls, Solutions and Future Challenges.
Mark Cunningham’s presentation will highlight the use of human neocortical tissue, the in vitro brain slice characterized by electrophysiological studies.
The approach permits experimentalists to determine the ability of neocortical microcircuits to generate pathological electrical activity as the human neocortical tissue is, in the majority of cases, removed during elective neurosurgery for the treatment of drug-refractory epilepsy.
This presentation will highlight recent work concerning the mechanistic features of electrophysiological signatures only observed previously with in vivo recordings in epileptic human patients.