OPIS

With its complex anatomical, molecular, electrophysiological and behavioral components, epilepsy provides the neuroscientist with nearly boundless opportunities to examine basic neurobiological mechanisms. In Animal Models of Epilepsy: Methods and Innovations, prominent investigators in the field examine several novel models of epilepsy in mice as well as in genetically tractable “simple” species such as Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies), Caenorhabditis elegans (worms), Xenopus laevis (tadpoles) and Danio rerio (zebrafish). While covering some traditional models, the volume also explores the newest innovations like modeling seizure activity in silica and advanced strategies for seizure detection and gene therapy. As a volume in the successful Neuromethods™ series, the chapters provide clear, step-by-step protocols and thought-provoking reviews of the most recent advancements in the field. Comprehensive and cutting-edge, Animal Models of Epilepsy: Methods and Innovations is an ideal guide for scientists who wish to expand our understanding of the pathogenesis of this neurological disorder.

1. The Nematode, C. elegans, as an Emerging Model for Investigating Epilepsy
Cody J. Locke, Kim A. Caldwell, and Guy A. Caldwell

2. The Genetics and Molecular Biology of Seizure Susceptibility in Drosophila
Juan Song and Mark A. Tanouye

3. The Albino Xenopus laevis Tadpole as a Novel Model of Developmental Seizures
D. Sesath Hewapathirane and Kurt Haas

4. Zebrafish as a Simple Vertebrate Organism for Epilepsy Research
Scott C. Baraban

5. Modeling Tuberous Sclerosis Complex: Brain Development and Hyperexcitability
Kevin C. Ess

6. BK Potassium Channels Mutations Affecting Neuronal Function and Epilepsy
David Petrik, Qing H. Chen, and Robert Brenner

7. Mouse Models of Benign Familial Neonatal Convulsions (BFNC): Mutations in KCNQ (Kv7) Genes
Nanda A. Singh, James F. Otto, Mark F. Leppert, H. Steve White, and Karen S. Wilcox

8. Interneuron Loss as a Cause of Seizures: Lessons from Interneuron-Deficient Mice
Dorothy Jones-Davis, Maria-Elisa Calcagnotto, and Joy Y. Sebe

9. Imaging Seizure Propagation In Vitro
Andrew J. Trevelyan and Rafael Yuste

10. Complexity Untangled: Large-Scale Realistic Computational Models in Epilepsy
Robert J. Morgan and Ivan Soltesz

11. Organotypic Hippocampal Slice Cultures as a Model of Limbic Epileptogenesis
Suzanne B. Bausch

12. Seizure Analysis and Detection In Vivo
Javier Echauz, Stephen Wong, and Brian Litt

13. Viral Vector Gene Therapy for Epilepsy
Stacey B. Foti, Shelley J. Russek, Amy R. Brooks-Kayal, and Thomas J. McCown

14. Neural Stem Cells in Experimental Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
Michelle M. Kron and Jack M. Parent

Scott C. Baraban