Limbic kindling and animal behavior--implications for human psychopathology associated with complex partial seizures.

The latest thinking concerning the neural mechanisms of limbic kindling is briefly reviewed. It is proposed that three types of lasting neural changes accompany the increases in epileptogenicity resulting from repetitive electrical stimulation of the limbic system in animals. Two of these, long-lasting synaptic potentiation and increased susceptibility to failure, under high drive, of neurotransmitter systems antagonistic to seizure expression, are proposed to underly the lasting interictally maintained changes in species-characteristic behavior in animals. It is proposed that similar processes may occur in some humans afflicted with complex partial epilepsy, and that these processes could explain the paradoxical relationship between seizures and psychopathology.