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The University of Southampton
Biological Sciences

Changing Minds through Neuroscience Inspired Fashion

Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a condition that affects the brain and causes repeated seizures, also known as fits.  Epilepsy affects over 600,000 people in the UK.  Seizures are the most common symptom of epilepsy, although many people can have a seizure during their lifetime without developing epilepsy.  Epilepsy usually begins during childhood, although it can start at any age.

The cells in the brain, known as neurons, communicate with each other using electrical impulses. During a seizure, the normal electrical impulses are disrupted, and there is a sudden burst of electrical activity in the brain. This can cause the brain and body to behave strangely and each person with epilepsy will have a unique experience of the condition. This is dependent on the severity of the seizure, where it starts and how fast it spreads in the brain. Some people simply experience a ‘trance-like' state for a few seconds or minutes, while others lose consciousness and have convulsions (uncontrollable shaking of the body).

It is not always easy to identify why people suffer from these intense bursts of electrical activity leading to epileptic seizures. Sometimes it could be because of brain damage, a head injury, a stroke, or infection such as meningitis.

Epilepsy can be broadly defined into three types. These are: 1). Symptomatic epilepsy - when the symptoms of epilepsy are due to damage or disruption to the brain. 2). Cryptogenic epilepsy - when no evidence of damage to the brain can be found, but other symptoms, such as learning difficulties, suggest that damage to the brain has occurred. 3). Idiopathic epilepsy - when no obvious cause for epilepsy can be found.

Epilepsy is most often diagnosed after you have had more than one seizure. This is because many people have a one-off epileptic seizure during their lifetime. The most important information needed by a GP or neurologist is a description of the seizures. This is how most cases of epilepsy are diagnosed. The electrical activity and the brainwave patterns of the brain can be recorded by an electroencephalogram (EEG). This gives useful information about the brains activity, but this alone cannot be used for a diagnosis.

Epilepsy is usually treated with anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). AEDs act on the brain to reduce or stop seizures from happening. In around 70% of cases, seizures are successfully controlled by AEDs, however, they cannot cure epilepsy. Alternative treatments include brain surgery and vagus nerve stimulation.

Want to know more?

http://www.epilepsy.org.uk/info/what-is-epilepsy

http://www.epilepsysociety.org.uk/AboutEpilepsy/Whatisepilepsy

http://www.brainandspine.org.uk/epilepsy http://www.uhs.nhs.uk/OurServices/Brainspineandneuromuscular/Epilepsyservice/Epilepsyservice.aspx

Changing Minds through Neuroscience Inspired Fashion

A collaboration between Winchester School of Art (WSA) and the Southampton Neuroscience Group (SoNG) was established with an aim to address the stigma and misconceptions surrounding mental health. 

Each year the starting point for the project is a visit from SoNG members to Winchester School of Art to talk about our research which spans synaptic function, neurodegeneration and cognitive neuroscience. The importance of this basic research to neurological and psychiatric conditions is discussed and then some suggestions are made for topics that the students might like to consider as the design concept for their garment. A very important aspect of the project is that the design is carefully thought through in terms of the underlying neurobiology and the impact of the disease.  To help with this the students visit the research labs and have the chance to discuss their ideas further with SoNG postdoctoral fellows and postgraduates.

This project has provided a stimulating, engaging and creative way to engage in conversations about mental health issues.

Designer: Stephanie Simmons

"I wanted to communicate a message to raise awareness of how epilepsy can drastically affect a person's day to day life. I wanted to explain not just the physical strains it causes them but translate how their emotions are affected. I interpreted the condition through gathering research from interviews to gain insight into how those affected are trapped in this disease with little control over it. My garment conveys these by being an all in one piece; the hood feature translates entrapment and the feeling of being in a cave. The zip highlights the claustrophobic experience, much like being in a sleeping bag. My fabric selection relates back to epileptic triggers. Together these elements seek to portray the experience of epilepsy."

Supported by the University of Southampton Multidisciplinary Research Strategy https://www.southampton.ac.uk/research/usrg/

Southampton Neuroscience Group
Southampton Neuroscience Group
Winchester School of Art
Winchester School of Art
Designed by Stephanie Simmons (1)
Designed by Stephanie Simmons (1)
Designed by Stephanie Simmons (2)
Designed by Stephanie Simmons (2)
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