Animal models of epilepsy

Animal models of epilepsy have helped to advance the understanding of how normal brains develop epilepsy (a process known as Epileptogenesis), and have been used in pre-clinical trials of antiepileptic drugs. Epilepsy is a set of syndromes which have in common a predisposition to recurrent epileptic seizures. Animal models of epilepsy and seizures can be divided into four basic categories: genetic animal models, chemically induced models, electrically induced models, and in more recent years infection-induced models. New models are using light-gated ion channels to turn on cell firing and these are part of optogenetic induction models of epilepsy.