ELECTROCONVULSIVE SHOCK (ECS) DOES NOT FACILITATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF KINDLING

1 . For many years it has been discussed whether repeated electroconvu lsive shock (ECS) may induce a lasting epileptogenic effect on the bra in (i.e. a kindling effect). In the present study the authors investig ated whether weekly ECS do exert such an effect. 2. Bipolar electrodes were implanted in amygdala of 32 rats. Following a two to three week recovery period the rats were randomly allocated to two groups. One gr oup received 12 weekly ECS, the other 12 weekly sham-ECS. 3. Three mon ths after the last ECS/sham-ECS, kindling was initiated. Daily stimula tion, eliciting an EEG-afterdischarge was given to all the rats. The a nimals received a total of 15 stimulations. 4. ECS-pretreated animals did not kindle faster than the sham-group. The two groups reached stag e 4 (clonic rearing) after 5.8 (ECS-group) and 5.7 (sham-group) stimul ations, respectively. 5. The authors did not find a facilitated develo pment of kindling following ECS, instead they observed a slight, yet s tatistically significant inhibition of the development of the maximall y generalized kindling-seizure - the stage 5 seizure - in the ECS-grou p. 6. In conclusion: The present study did not show a kindling effect of weekly ECS suggesting that kindling requires more than repeated eli citation of after-discharge.