Dr. Else Tolner

The role of brainstem depolarizations in (seizure-related) risk for sudden death – insight from FHM mouse models

Short biosketch & Abstract

Dr. Else Tolner is a neurobiologist, affiliated as Assistant Professor at the Neurology department of the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC). Her research focuses on understanding triggering mechanisms and therapeutic pathways of migraine and comorbid epilepsy. Her studies in transgenic animal models of familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM) highlight shared pathophysiological features of migraine and epilepsy. In this talk, Dr. Tolner will describe observations from electrophysiological studies performed in freely behaving mice, that identified brainstem spreading depolarization as a mechanism underlying sudden death in the context of a hyperexcitable brain. The findings underscore brainstem excitability as a convergence point for sudden death risk in the context of migraine-epilepsy comorbidity and provide angles for therapeutic intervention.