Comprender la epilepsia (curso en línea gratuito con certificado)

For millennia, people have suffered through untreated neurological disorders like schizophrenia and epilepsy as the lack of medical information led their peers to believe that they were possessed by demons or evil spirits. Sadly, those suffering from such conditions were often shunned and mistreated and this continues in many communities today. Of the roughly 50 million people who suffer from epilepsy worldwide, more than 75% do not receive any treatment for their seizures, even in developed countries like the United States. This free online course takes you through the early warning signs of epilepsy and explains its symptoms, causes, diagnosis and treatment.

We begin with a brief history of epilepsy and the last century’s efforts to understand it. We go through the discovery of anti-epileptic drugs and the development of the electroencephalogram (EEG), a test that measures the brain’s electrical activity utilizing electrodes attached to the scalp. The course then defines ‘epilepsy’ and examines its symptoms before moving on to its classification. The International League against Epilepsy divides the disorder into three broad categories: focal, generalized and ‘unknown’ (when there is insufficient data for a solid diagnosis). We track their causes and differences to establish why such categorization is important. We then investigate how an epileptic seizure occurs in the brain and track the electrical signals caused by the seizure as they travel through the brain’s cortical circuits.

Comprender el comportamiento de la actividad sináptica anormal que se produce en el cerebro antes, durante y después de una convulsión es importante para ilustrar cómo se utiliza un EEG para diagnosticar y clasificar las convulsiones epilépticas. Este curso demuestra la experimentación con EEG, incluidos detalles prácticos como la colocación de electrodos y los protocolos de prueba. Le mostramos cómo comparar las lecturas de EEG para distinguir entre las ondas cerebrales de un cerebro "normal" y las creadas por su contraparte epiléptica. Analizamos términos médicos como "epileptogénesis", "aura epiléptica" y la "Marcha Jacksoniana". Luego, el curso profundiza en los esfuerzos contemporáneos para ampliar el acceso a las herramientas de diagnóstico epiléptico para quienes más las necesitan y explora la investigación médica actual que intenta descubrir nuevos medicamentos antiepilépticos. Este curso es adecuado para estudiantes de medicina o cualquier persona que tenga un ser querido que sufra de epilepsia. Inscríbase para participar en el esfuerzo mundial para difundir la conciencia sobre este trastorno neurológico tratable.

• Module 1: Using EEG Data to Classify Epilepsy
• Module 2: Course Assessment

What You Will Learn In This Free Course

• Define ‘epilepsy’
• Classify epileptic seizures
• Discuss the symptoms and causes of epilepsy
• Explain how to diagnose epilepsy with an EEG
• Describe the international EEG electrode placement method
• Compare ‘normal’ EEG readings to their epileptic counterparts

Knowledge & Skills You Will Learn

• Health Management
• Neuroscience
• Medicine
• Disability
• Epilepsy