UCL Institute of Neurology

An international consortium of scientists, led jointly by researchers at UCL’s Institute of Neurology and Duke University, USA, has identified the specific genetic mutation that causes Alternating Hemiplegia, a rare neurological condition affecting an estimated one child in every million. Using the newest genetic technology, next-generation sequencing, the study published in Nature Genetics, showed that de novo mutations in the gene ATP1A3 cause the condition (de novo mutations are genetic mutations not present in the parents’ genes).