Common epileptic pathway in amygdaloid bicuculline and electrical kindling demonstrated by transferability.

The transferability between amygdaloid bicuculline kindling and electrical kindling was studied in rats. Electrically kindled animals exhibited stage 5 generalized seizures on the first injection of bicuculline, in contrast to the 3-7 injections required in controls. Similarly, bicuculline-kindled animals reached stage 5 after significantly fewer electrical stimulations than controls; two-thirds of the bicuculline-kindled animals began in stage 1 but skipped stages 3 and 4 on their way to stage 5. These data indicate that a common generalization mechanism exists in both types of kindling, but the process of progression from local seizure to generalized seizure may be immature in bicuculline kindling.