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Updated: Sep 6, 2025

Chronic Sleep Deprivation in Mouse Pups by Means of Gentle Handling
Published on: October 11, 2018
Sleep deprivation: a risk for epileptic seizures
Jason Tyler Dell'Aquila1, Varun Soti2
1Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Osteopathic Medical Student, 2nd year year - Elmira - New York - United States.
Abstract:
There is a well-documented correlation between epilepsy and sleep deprivation. For decades, preclinical and clinical studies have shown that sleep deprivation can lead to an increased risk of epileptic seizures. Additionally, sleep deprivation has been used clinically as a diagnostic tool for epilepsy by triggering epileptiform activity. However, an underlying mechanism for this relationship is yet to be confirmed. Interestingly, a decrease in gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-mediated tonic inhibition has been shown in both epilepsy and sleep deprivation. This review focuses on the role of sleep deprivation in the induction of epileptic seizures and the possible role of reduced GABA receptor expression in the sleep-deprived state.
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