A University of Lethbridge researcher is trying to find out if memory can trigger seizures.

Two years ago, neuroscientist Dr. Artur Luczak, in collaboration with the U of L’s Dr. Bruce McNaughton and researchers at Stanford University, published a study that found certain neuronal activity in the brains of rats with epilepsy was associated with seizures.

A federal grant of more than $530,000 will allow for follow up research on those results.

Dr. Luczak says he’s exploring the possibility that recalling a certain memory might create a pattern of brain activity that can trigger a seizure.

More than 20 per cent of patients with epilepsy do not respond to any treatment and researchers don’t know why drugs help some and not others.  Researchers say having a better idea of how patterns of brain activity can trigger a seizure could help pave the way to new possibilities for treatment.