ABSTRACT
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that involves the interaction of ensembles of central nervous system neurons ultimately to produce the abnormal behavior pattern seen during the epileptic seizure. Most research on the nature of the neuronal abnormalities in epilepsy has concentrated on neurons at the origin of these seizures in focal epilepsy. In vitro systems are advantageous for studying the complex neuronal mechanisms involved in mobilization of neurons into epileptogenic networks, particularly in focal epilepsy. An important step in the in vitro study of neuronal networks is the dual focus model. This involved slices that contain both hippocampu and the closely related entorhinal cortex. Absence epilepsy is a common form of generalized epilepsy in children that has been modeled extensively in animals. Thalamic and cortical neuronal subnetworks are implicated as essential elements underlying seizures in models of absence epilepsy. Precedence for shifts in network participation is found in recent invertebrate experiments on physiologically active networks in vitro.
