[Neurophysiology of epileptic seizures (author's transl)]

The paper is a review of the progress made over the past years in the understanding of electrical processes occurring during epileptic seizures as elicited by the local application of penicillin. The events at the cellular level of the neocortex are discussed, as well as cortico-subcortical relationships and microtopography of the seizure patterns. The increased excitability under penicillin induces a great number of feedback processes, the electrical effects of which become visible in the seizure EEG with its high degree of organization. Neocortical architectonics is of great importance for the shape of the potentials and their distribution. Seizure patterns of different shape are found in the different layers of the cortex.