A developmental study of kindling in the rat

Neonate (10 days of age), infant (14 days of age), weanling (21 days of age), juvenile (39 days of age) and adult (over 200 days of age) rats were subjected to repeated electrical stimulation of the amygdala in a kindling paradigm. No differences in the rate or development of the kindling response were observed among adults, juveniles and weanlings. The maximal response to amygdaloid kindling stimulation in neonates and infants was partial and unreliable seizure development. The failure to fully and reliably kindling animals younger than 21 days of age is attributed to immaturity of various mechanisms of neural transmission.