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Updated: Jan 24, 2026
Electroconvulsive Seizures in Rats and Fractionation of Their Hippocampi to Examine Seizure-induced Changes in Postsynaptic Density Proteins
Published on: August 15, 2017
Ionic and synaptic mechanisms of seizure generation and epileptogenesis
Oscar C González1, Giri P Krishnan2, Igor Timofeev3
1Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, United States of America; Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, United States of America.
Abstract:
The biophysical mechanisms underlying epileptogenesis and the generation of seizures remain to be better understood. Among many factors triggering epileptogenesis are traumatic brain injury breaking normal synaptic homeostasis and genetic mutations disrupting ionic concentration homeostasis. Impairments in these mechanisms, as seen in various brain diseases, may push the brain network to a pathological state characterized by increased susceptibility to unprovoked seizures. Here, we review recent computational studies exploring the roles of ionic concentration dynamics in the generation, maintenance, and termination of seizures. We further discuss how ionic and synaptic homeostatic mechanisms may give rise to conditions which prime brain networks to exhibit recurrent spontaneous seizures and epilepsy.
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