Chapter 36 - Animal Models of Febrile Seizures

Abstract

Epilepsy is a nervous system disorder characterized by recurrent seizures that commonly affects infants and children. It has been suggested that prolonged seizures in early life could affect the developing brain. Thus, adequate animal models for studying the causality and outcome of early-life seizures are necessary to facilitate the development of drugs and therapeutic strategies. Among early-life seizures, febrile seizures are the most common type of convulsive events in humans between 3 months and 5 years of age. Although febrile seizures are benign in most cases, it remains controversial whether complex febrile seizures are associated with the development of epilepsy later in life. To address this concern, animal models of febrile seizures have been developed and utilized to characterize the mechanisms and consequences underlying febrile seizure-induced alterations in the structure and function of neural circuits. In this chapter, the accumulated findings from experimental models of febrile seizures will be introduced and discussed.