'Zombie' cells may cause common form of epilepsy - study
The researchers found that clearing away damaged but undying brain cells (known as zombie cells) in mouse models of epilepsy reduced the number of seizures and improved the rodents’ memory.
By Esther Davis, Jerusalem Post, January 23, 2026
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-884311
In a peer-reviewed study published in the Annals of Neurology, researchers found that “zombie” cells may be responsible for a common form of epilepsy.
The study, “Senescent Cell Clearance Ameliorates Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and Associated Spatial Memory Deficits in Mice” was published in December 2025, and studied temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) in mice.
The researchers found that clearing away damaged but undying brain cells (known colloquially as zombie cells) in mouse models of epilepsy reduced the number of seizures and improved the rodents’ memory.
These findings could help researchers develop the first disease-modifying medications for TLE.
TLE is the world’s most common seizure disorder, affecting around 50 million people globally, and has previously been treated with medication to treat symptoms through reducing seizures, rather than targeting the root cause. Many patients require brain surgery or nerve-stimulation devices.
The study researched the role of “zombified” cells in epilepsy. Typically, when cells are damaged, they undergo cell death, causing them to self-destruct.
These cells, however, don’t undergo cell death as normal, instead entering a stage called senescence. In senescence, they stop dividing as healthy cells do but refuse to die, earning them the nickname' zombie cells'.
The team noticed that these zombie cells behaved similarly to brain cells at the start of a seizure, leading to tissue scarring known as fibrosis.
TLE-affected brains possess five times as many zombie cells
The researchers searched for signs of zombified cells in TLE-affected brains, comparing brain tissue samples from patients with autopsied samples from people without TLE. Despite the non-TLE group being significantly older than the TLE group, the epilepsy group had, on average, five times as many senescent cells in their tissue samples, according to lead researcher Patrick Forcelli.
The study found that mice with seizures showed more signs of brain senescence than those without seizures. The team then attempted to remove the zombie cells from the mice using a combination of a leukemia-fighting drug and an anti-inflammatory plant.
The treatment, known as a senolytic, reduced the number of senescent cells in the mice’s brains. Trials will need to be carried out to test this treatment combination as a senolytic in humans.
Removing senescent cells helped reduce, or even eliminate, symptoms in the mice.
"We were able to normalize the memory function of the mice and significantly reduce their seizures,” Forcelli said.
The researchers also noted that targeting senescent cells could benefit the treatment of other conditions, not just TLE.
Clinical trials suggest that up to 70 conditions could be delayed or prevented entirely with senolytics.
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