MINI REVIEW article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Epilepsy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1541064
Dual Strategies for Epilepsy Management Employing Pharmacological and Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Approaches
Provisionally accepted
- 1Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Tehran, Iran
- 2Shahed University, Tehran, Iran
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Epilepsy is a prevalent neurological disorder that affects more than 50 million individuals worldwide, characterized by seizures, cognitive impairments, and an increased risk of complications such as sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). Despite advancements in pharmacological treatments, one-third of patients develop drug resistance and experience serious side effects related to drug therapy. This highlights the urgent need for alternative therapeutic approaches. Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS), have emerged as promising alternatives. These methods modulate brain activity with fewer side effects with potential for treating drug-resistant epilepsy. However, their clinical application is still limited by factors such as variability in stimulation protocols and patient responsiveness. This review explores the efficacy, underlying mechanisms, and side effects of pharmacological treatments, with a focus on commonly prescribed drugs for epilepsy, as well as selected NIBS techniques, emphasizing their roles in managing epilepsy. By comparing these approaches, we aim to provide insights into optimizing epilepsy treatment strategies and improving patient outcomes. This review showed that NIBS alone or in combination with pharmacological therapy is a promising method for patients with epilepsy and future research should focus on the effective protocols and related mechanisms.
Keywords: epilepsy1, non-invasive brain stimulation2, transcranial magnetic stimulation3, transcranial direct current stimulation4, Transcranial ultrasound stimulation5
Received: 06 Dec 2024; Accepted: 24 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Afshari, Roghani and Pirzad Gahromi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Mehrdad Roghani, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran
Gila Pirzad Gahromi, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 56131-56491, Tehran, Iran
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.