Animal Models of Epilepsy

Epilepsy is fairly unique among the various neurological disorders as it provides the neuroscientist with almost boundless opportunities to examine basic neurobiological mechanisms. Not surprisingly, advances in epilepsy research are closely tied to dev- opment of innovative neurobiological methodologies. In many cases the practical application of these innovations – especially in the context of a neurological disorder with anatomical, molecular, electrophysiological, and behavioral components such as epilepsy – can be found in the development of new animal models. In turn, our understanding of the pathogenesis of epilepsy (and new therapy development) greatly benefits from these models. Taking advantage of transgenic and homologous rec- binationtechniques,laboratorieshave recentlymovedbeyondthestandardconvulsant or stimulation models in rat to develop novel mouse models of epilepsy. This forward thinking approach has recently been applied to genetically tractable ‘‘simple’’ species such as Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies), Caenorhabditis elegans (worms), Xenopus laevis (tadpoles), and Danio rerio (zebrafish). With contributions from prominent investigators in this field, this book provides a reviewoftheseemerginganimalmodelsofepilepsy. Priortextbooksdevotedtomodels of seizure and epilepsy almost exclusively categorized rat models with little attention paid to these more innovative approaches. Here we attempt to diverge from the conventionalepilepsyliteratureandfocusonanimalmodelsthatattempttoincorporate the latest technological advancements in neurobiology. While some of these models andapproaches are,admittedly, at veryearly stages ofdevelopment andmay ultimately fall short of widespread utilization, it is through the consideration and presentation of these models that the authors’ hope to advance and challenge the field of epilepsy research.