Posttraumatic Epilepsy: Basic and Clinical Aspects

Posttraumatic Epilepsy: Basic and Clinical Aspects provides a synthesized resource on the recent basic and clinical science developments in the field of posttraumatic epilepsy. This book provides a clear understanding of the history of studies and epidemiology of posttraumatic epilepsy after head injury. The book also considers the neuropathology of posttraumatic epilepsy and clinical trials of antiepileptogenic agents evaluated after traumatic brain injury. The book covers the basic science of animal models of traumatic brain injury and the necessary and sufficient changes that must occur to generate epilepsy after head trauma. The authors explore potential mechanisms and novel therapeutic approaches to prevent posttraumatic epilepsy. The book is written for basic and clinical researchers in neuroscience as well as for clinicians treating patients with epilepsy.

• Reviews the history and epidemiology of posttraumatic epilepsy
• Considers the neuropathology of posttraumatic epilepsy
• Synthesizes studies demonstrating risk factors for susceptibility to epilepsy after head trauma
• Reviews animal models of traumatic brain injury
• Addresses our current understanding of mechanisms of posttraumatic epilepsy
• Explores novel therapeutic approaches to prevent posttraumatic epilepsy

Carrie R. Jonak (research associate) is a neuroscience researcher in Dr. Binder’s laboratory, in the Division of Biomedical Sciences at the University of California, Riverside.

Allison Peterson is a Ph.D. candidate (graduate student in Biomedical Sciences) in Dr. Binder’s laboratory in the Division of Biomedical Scienecs at the University of California, Riverside.

Originally from the Bay Area, Devin K. Binder went to Harvard University as an undergraduate, where he studied biology, anthropology, and neuroscience. He was awarded the Hoopes Prize at Harvard for his summa cum laude senior honors thesis “Serotonin and behavioral state.” Deciding to pursue both neuroscience and clinical medicine, he enrolled in the M.D./Ph.D. program at Duke University. At Duke, he graduated 1st in his medical school class, and contributed to epilepsy neuroscience with his Ph.D. dissertation “The functional role of neurotrophins in the kindling model of epilepsy.” Subsequently, Binder completed a one-year internship in general surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, and a six-year residency in neurological surgery at UCSF. At UCSF, he did a one-year fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Alan Verkman, leader in the field of aquaporin biology. Following residency, Binder was awarded the Van Wagenen neurosurgical fellowship for one year of neuroscience and neurosurgery at the University of Bonn. There, he did another fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Christian Steinhäuser, Director of the Institute for Cellular Neuroscience at the University of Bonn. Following a three-year stint at the University of California, Irvine, in the Departments of Neurological Surgery and Anatomy & Neurobiology, Binder joined the Division of Biomedical Sciences at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine in January 2010. Binder runs the NIH-funded Translational Neuroscience Laboratory, and conducts research on astrocytes, epilepsy, and neurophotonics. Binder has been publishing in the epilepsy field since the 1990s, and has publications since 2004 relevant to astrocyte contribution to seizures and epilepsy. He is the previous co-author of 3 books, 2 related to epilepsy, currently holds 2 NIH grants related to epilepsy, and sits on leadership committees of the American Epilepsy Society.