This Project represents the continuing efforts of a large, productive, multidisciplinary group to investigate the basic mechanisms underlying epileptiform phenomena. The basic goal has been to gain a better understanding of epilepsy. The investigative group is a unique blend of researchers with a wide range of special interests and expertise. Clinical involvement of the neurosurgeons infuses the basic science studies with a focus and relevance impossible to duplicate in a strictly basic science setting; yet the project are designed as basic science investigations to understand basic mechanisms. The long-term goals of the Program Project are approached along various avenues: Electrophysiological studies will concentrate on cellular and membrane characteristics of epileptiform tissue in a wide range of models, including hippocampal slices, and monkey and human neocortex in vivo and in vitro. Anatomical investigations using electronmicroscopic, receptor labeling, and immunocytochemical methods, will focus on morphological alterations found in tissue which exhibit epileptiform abnormalities. Behavioral and pharmacologic studies will analyze reorganizational patterns resulting from anticonvulsant therapies (fetal monkey) and from the epileptic lesion itself (localization and maintenance of higher functions in human cortex). These apparently diverse studies are united by intellectual and practical bonds that include a primary interest in the multifaceted mechanisms and phenomena of epilepsy; a special focus on the functional and structural reorganization that characterizes the CNS response to epileptic lesions; and a sharing of ideas and facilities that enrich each individual effort. The interaction arrangements provide a supportive environment in which new insights, as well as well-established approaches, are nurtured. The joining of such differences into a common project results in a unique and fruitful approach to the study of epilepsy.
