It has come to the knowledge from an article published in the recent days in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that there happens to be a sturdy confirmation of the existence of a new type of communication between nerve cells in the brain. It also has been learnt in this regard, that the recent findings in due course may give rise to an innovative prospect for the impediment and healing of epilepsy in conjunction with the possible introduction of other aspects of brain functions that ranges from the aspect of creative thought processes to mental illnesses, for instance schizophrenia.

The investigative study was the resultant of a joint effort undertaken by the eminent scientists representing various organizations of repute. They included the SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York; Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado; Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Manhattan, New York; and the University of Newcastle in the United Kingdom. The study was led by the prominent researcher Dr. Farid Hamzei-Sichani, an MD/PhD student at Downstate Medical Center, working in the laboratory of Roger Traub, MD, professor of physiology and pharmacology and of neurology at SUNY Downstate.

From the researchers it was learnt that epilepsy is a group of disorders that are exemplified by the repeated occurrence of spontaneous seizures affecting more or less one-half of one percent of the U.S. population. In addition, its pertinent presence is felt in almost all the developing countries and with an elevating percentage with the advancement of each year. In spite of the rapid advancements in the realm of the medical science in the international continuum, it is to be accepted that nothing substantial has happened with the latest statistics that seizures are not properly controlled by available treatments in something like one-third of patients. There is also an indication in this respect that the problems can arise at any time in the ability of patients to function at home and in society.

There comes a question in this esteem, what are the epileptic seizures? Epileptic seizures are normally regarded to be the perfect sign of a disparity between the aptitude of nerve cells to excite one another, on the one hand, and to inhibit one another, on the other hand. The excitation and inhibition take place because the activity of nerve cells leads to the release of particular chemicals – called neurotransmitters – at specialized junctions that are called "chemical synapses". On the other hand, there happens to be the existence of a separate set of nerve cells that do communicate with each other but in an efficient manner, known as the gap junctions. They are so named since they consent to electric current to flow from one cell to another in a direct manner without even the simplest participation of the release and diffusion of transmitter chemicals.