AMYGDALA KINDLING IN THE RAT - ANXIOGENIC-LIKE CONSEQUENCES

Patients with complex partial seizures of temporal lobe origin may exp erience behavioural disorders like depressive, anxiety-related or schi zophrenic-like symptoms between seizures, i.e. interictally. The neura l mechanisms underlying these enduring interictal disorders remain to be investigated. The aim of the present study was to examine the behav ioural consequences of kindling of the basolateral nuclei of the amygd ala, an animal model of limbic complex partial seizures. Animals havin g experienced 15 stage 5 seizures were compared to non-kindled control s in different behavioural tests performed at least seven days after t he last seizure. Kindled animals showed a significant reduction of exp loration of open arms in the elevated plus-maze test. In the social in teractions test, they showed a decrease of non-social behaviour and an increase of immobility. No modifications were observed in kindled ani mals when tested in the open field, the sucrose preference or the forc ed swimming test. The reduction of open arm exploration in the elevate d plus-maze was reversed by a pretreatment with chlordiazepoxide (2 mg /kg, i.p.), a benzodiazepine anxiolytic. Finally, a similar reduction of open arm exploration was observed when animals were kindled only un til a stage 3 seizure occurred. These data, along with previous studie s, suggest that kindling of the amygdala has anxiogenic consequences a nd provide an animal model to study the neuroplasticity phenomena unde rlying enduring interictal disorders in humans. Copyright (C) 1996 IBR O.