Worldwide, 65 million people live with epilepsy. Tens of millions have mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, with seizures originating, in part, from the amygdala, an almond-shaped structure involved in processing emotions, and the hippocampus, a region necessary for forming memories. When people with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy of just one hemisphere do not respond to anti-seizure drug therapies, the standard of care is surgery. In these procedures, the amygdala and most of the hippocampus in one hemisphere are either surgically removed or ablated, a technique that involves using a laser to heat up and destroy tissue. Because of the symmetry of the temporal lobe - both hemispheres of the brain have an amygdala and hippocampus - people who have these surgeries usually have minimal side effects, according to the researchers., A new study from Stanford Medicine researchers and their colleagues offers an explanation and suggests a more effective approach to treatment. They found that a previously overlooked region of the hippocampus, the fasciola cinereum, appears to be involved in instigating and propagating seizures., Read the latest medical research on epilepsy and seizures including new treatments and potential cures under development..