ATLANTA ― Scientists have created brain-like tissue that can produce a critical type of brain cell linked to seizures and other brain disorders, according to research presented at the American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting. This groundbreaking work can significantly expand how researchers study epilepsy and opens doors for developing new treatments.
“This is something the field has been working toward for years,” said Howard Goodkin, MD, president of the American Epilepsy Society. “Being able to study these cells in a human system is critical for understanding many forms of epilepsy and for developing better therapies.”
The cells, called parvalbumin interneurons, act like the brain’s “braking system.” They maintain a balance of electrical activity and prevent signals from becoming too strong or fast. When these cells are missing, abnormal or slow to mature, the brain becomes more excitable and more vulnerable to seizures.
“Parvalbumin interneurons act like orchestra conductors,” said lead author Maria Carmen Varela, a PhD student in the neuroscience graduate program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. “They coordinate the electrical rhythms of the brain, telling some cells to quiet down while others take the lead. When the conductor underperforms, the orchestra becomes chaotic, and that kind of uncontrolled activity in the brain can lead to a seizure.”
Parvalbumin interneurons also play a role in conditions such as autism, schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease, and are difficult to grow in the lab because they develop late in the human brain and need a very specific environment to develop correctly. Animal models have provided valuable insights, but do not fully replicate human brain development.
The researchers created brain organoids — tiny clusters of brain-like tissue grown in a dish from human stem cells. They treated the organoids with a specific mix of molecules that act like “instructions” during brain development, helping guide them to become a part of the developing brain called the medial ganglionic eminence (MGE), where parvalbumin interneurons form. This resulted in a specialized organoid that produced large numbers of mature parvalbumin interneurons — something earlier models have not achieved.
“While previous studies have generated inhibitory brain cells, our study is the first to create a 3D human cellular model that produces elusive parvalbumin interneurons at a large scale,” said co-author Jack Parent, MD, first vice president of the American Epilepsy Society and the William J. Herdman Professor of Neurology at the University of Michigan Medical School. “These cells are central to epilepsy and many other brain disorders, but until now we couldn’t study them in a human system in meaningful numbers.”
Using this new model gives researchers new ways to:
- Study how these cells form and what goes wrong in genetic epilepsies.
- Study the effects on specific genetic changes.
- Test medications directly on cells from humans.
- Explore early developmental changes that increase seizure risk.
The researchers note that more work is needed to understand how these cells behave in living organisms and whether they could eventually be used as a treatment.
*** AES 2025 news releases may contain updated data that does not match what is reported in the abstract.
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