Transfer following rapid kindling in the prepubescent rat.

In order to investigate the transfer effect following rapid kindling in the immature animal, prepubescent rats were initially kindled in the amygdala using interstimulus intervals of 5 min followed by transfer kindling in the contralateral amygdala at age 100 days using twice daily kindling. A second group of rats were kindled in the prepubescent period with hourly stimulations followed by transfer kindling at age 100 days using twice daily stimulations. A control group underwent sham-kindling in the prepubescent period followed by twice daily kindling at age 100 days. While a transfer effect was seen in both the rapidly kindled and hourly kindled groups, the transfer effect was greater in the animals kindled with the longer interstimulus interval. While rapid kindling produces a long-standing change in brain excitability, the effect is less pronounced than with hourly kindling techniques.