Models of focal epilepsy

Focal symptomatic epilepsy is the most common and most refractory form of human epilepsy and is an important subject of basic research. Although advanced diagnostic technologies and epilepsy surgery facilities are providing increasing opportunities to carry out investigations directly on patients with focal epilepsy, inherent limitations make research with animal models essential to elucidate basic mechanisms, improve diagnosis, and test potential therapies. Numerous animal models are available, but proper use requires that they be validated for specific investigative purposes and, preferably, studied along with patients, employing reiterative parellel experimental paradigms. Clinical research establishes the critical questions that cannot be completely answered with human investigation, while results of animal research carried out to resolve these questions must be reexamined clinically to confirm their relevance to the human condition. Better and cheaper animal models are necessary for optimum cost-effective parallel research activities, which includes not only models of specific types of acute epileptic seizures, and chronic epilepsy, but models of component parts of seizures and epilepsy that can be used as surrogate, or biological, markers of epileptogenesis and epileptogenicity. Appropriate use of markers such as FR could greatly reduce the expense, and time required, to produce the necessary research results.