Social conflict situations in rats differentially affect the development of amygdala kindling

Clinical studies revealed an association between the occurrence of convulsions and stress. However, the direction of such relations and their mechanisms are not quite clear. The present study investigated the influence of stress-inducing agonistic conflict situations on the progressive process of kindling epileptogenesis induced by daily tetanic stimulation of the amygdala. Whereas repeated exposure to defeat in an agonistic setting did not affect the development of amygdala kindling, repeated victory experiences resulted in a significant retardation of the kindling process. Moreover, the kindling process was retarded to a greater extent in rats that quickly displayed offensive behavior and won the confrontation. Possible underlying mechanisms and biological substrates are discussed in terms of the ability of the individual to control or cope with the nature of the stressor.