Why-and how-do we engage in basic epilepsy research?

Some have questioned whether research into basic mechanisms of the epilepsies can have a significant impact on the development of better treatments and cures for patients with epilepsy. In that context, it is helpful to develop clear expectations about what we can accomplish in the laboratory, and how to optimize our contributions. For an expanded treatment of this topic see Jasper's Basic Mechanisms of the Epilepsies, Fourth Edition (Noebels JL, Avoli M, Rogawski MA, Olsen RW, Delgado-Escueta AV, eds) published by Oxford University Press (available on the National Library of Medicine Bookshelf [NCBI] at.