Kindling model

Kindling is a commonly used model for the development of seizures and epilepsy in which the duration and behavioral involvement of induced seizures increases after seizures are induced repeatedly. Although kindling is a widely used model, its applicability to human epilepsy is controversial.

Method

The word kindling is a metaphor: the increase in response to small stimuli is similar to the way small burning twigs can produce a large fire.

The brains of experimental animals are repeatedly stimulated, usually with electricity, to induce the seizures.

New approaches

In 2019, a new model to develop kindling in neocortex was developed using optogenetics (light) instead of passing electrical current.

See also

• Kindling (sedative–hypnotic withdrawal)
• Epileptogenesis
• Racine Stages (a method by which seizure severity is quantified in animal models of epilepsy)