Research has shown early diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy disorders can improve outcomes. The question of when to administer treatment so it gets ahead of the disease, however, has remained stubbornly elusive.

A new Northwestern University study published in Nature Communications suggests intervention could start during pregnancy — as early as 15 weeks gestation — well before symptoms appear, highlighting the potential benefit of treating certain epilepsy disorders as early as possible.

“We want to better understand things happening in the brain in utero that result in deficits to hopefully establish models and therapeutics that prevent the damage so the brain can develop under its normal timeline,” said corresponding author Richard Smith, assistant professor of pharmacology and pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.