[Study of the mechanisms of the development of epileptic activity in neuronal networks using a simulation model]

The occurrence of synchronous, self-sustaining seizure activity is one of the basic mechanisms underlying epileptic attacks. Using a mathematical model of neuronal network in various simulation experiments carried out in digital computer the conditions were studied of the development of pathological epileptic activity and the conditions of the parameters of this network affecting its stable function. After exceeding of a threshold value in the relation between the weights of the stimulating and inhibiting synapses an unstable epileptic response appears. In the state of the so called conditional stability the network is highly sensitive to even small changes of the parameters. These observations make possible a new look at a number of phenomena found in clinical cases and in experiments.