[THE ROLE OF CORTICAL AND HIPPOCAMPAL GABAERGIC INTERNEURONS IN EPILEPSY]

The role of various classes of cortical and hippocampal interneurons in the pathogenesis of the temporal lobe epilepsy, which is among the most common forms of epilepsy, is discussed in this paper. The results of the morphological studies in postmortem brain tissue and electrophysiological experiments on brain slices of patients taken in neurosurgical operations as well as the results of in vivo and in vitro studies in animal models are critically reviewed. The selective elimination of the specific groups of interneurons and the functional disorders of the surviving interneurons causes the dysfunction of inhibitory processes in epileptic brain. The understanding of the specific role of different classes of interneurons in epileptic brain is a basis for the development of new effective treatment strategies.