Suceptibility of mice to audiogenic seizures is increased by handling their dams during gestation.

Fetal mice treated on days 10, 11, and 12 of gestation by injecting the mothers with (i) 50 milligrams of beta-2-thienylalanine, (ii) solvent, or (iii) sham injection had identical frequencies of audiogenic seizures when tested 23 days after birth; these frequencies were significantly higher than those of an unhandled control group. Results of the sham treatment suggest that maternal stress induced by handling, rather than the nature of the substance injected, increased the susceptibility of the offspring to seizures.