Cambridge Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Group, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Curr Opin Neurol. 2011 Apr;24(2):154-8. doi: 10.1097/WCO.0b013e3283444c70.
Although the association between learning disability and epilepsy is well known, until relatively recently specific processes underlying this association were relatively poorly understood. However, scientific advances in molecular biology are starting to guide researchers towards descriptions of genetic and pathophysiological processes that may explain why syndromes of epilepsy and learning disability often co-exist.
This article will focus largely on three areas of advancing knowledge: insights gained from wider use of genome-wide array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH), specific insights gained from detailed study of Rett syndrome and the role of abnormalities of astrocytic function in predisposing to both epilepsy and learning disability.
The enormous complexity of the biological underpinnings of the co-occurrence of epilepsy and learning disability are becoming apparent. In the future it is likely that research into therapeutic approaches will include, amongst other approaches, investigations of gene structure and expression, the role of astrocytes and the stability of dendritic spines.
尽管学习障碍与癫痫之间的关联早已为人所知，但直到最近，其背后的具体过程仍知之甚少。然而，分子生物学领域的科学进步开始为研究人员提供线索，帮助他们描述可能解释为何癫痫和学习障碍综合征经常共存的遗传和病理生理过程。
本文将主要关注三个知识领域的进展：更广泛使用全基因组芯片比较基因组杂交（aCGH）所获得的见解、详细研究雷特综合征所获得的具体见解，以及星形胶质细胞功能异常在导致癫痫和学习障碍中的作用。
癫痫和学习障碍同时发生的生物学基础的巨大复杂性变得越来越明显。未来，针对治疗方法的研究很可能包括对基因结构和表达、星形胶质细胞的作用以及树突棘稳定性的研究等方法。
