Common epileptic pathway in amygdaloid bicuculline and electrical kindling demonstrated by transferability

Abstract

The transferability between amygdaloid bicuculline kindling and electrical kindling was studied in rats. Electrically kindled animals exhibited stage 5 generalized seizures on the first injection of bicuculline, in contrast to the 3–7 injections required in controls. Similarly, bicuculline-kindled animals reached stage 5 after significantly fewer electrical stimulations than controls; two-thirds of the bicuculline-kindled animals began in stage 1 but skipped stages 3 and 4 on their way to stage 5. These data indicate that a common generalization mechanism exists in both types of kindling, but the process of progression from local seizure to generalized seizure may be immature in bicuculline kindling.