208. Morphometric brain abnormalities and increased anxiety in a rat model of generalized epilepsy: Relevance for the psychiatric Co-morbidies of Epilepsy?

Abstract

Introduction: Psychiatric co-morbidies frequently occur in patients with epilepsy, but the pathophysiological relationship with the epilepsy remains uncertain. Genetic Absence Epilepsy Rats from Strasbourg (GAERS), bred for their epilepsy phenotype, also exhibit elevated anxiety-like behaviours suggesting a common causality. We examined whether this behavioural disturbance is associated with cerebral morphological alterations.