Sources of energy for the brain and susceptibility to audiogenic seizures.

The onset of susceptibility to audiogenic seizures (AGS) coincides with the draining of the ear canal at about 14 to 16 days of age. This is also when the mouse brain has almost attained its maximal size and weight, and also about the time of weaning from the dam's high-fat milk to the beginning of dietary self-sufficiency. During suckling, the brain is primarily dependent on ketone-body utilization as a source for brain energy; weaned mice use glucose. It is suggested that in AGS-prone mice, there may be a developmental lag in the onset of a sufficient rate of glycolysis in brain to provide adequate immediately available energy reserves to last through a brief period of an external-stimulus-induced large energy expediture until energy repletion processes can begin. As a results, ATP levels might fall below an hypothesized lower limit to subserve organized neural activity in some inhibitory area of the brain, resulting in the onset of an AGS.