Circadian patterns of vigilance and seizure susceptibility in genetically epileptic mice: heuristic aspects in neurology.

A circadian paradigm of susceptibility to tonic-clonic convulsions was experimentally analyzed in genetically epileptic mice. In conjunction with behavioral and neurochronobiological studies, we demonstrated from these animal models that the tonic-clonic susceptibility appears to be modulated by the vigilance level. Thanks to biometric and inferential rhythmometric procedures, the chronobiological data obtained and the complementary psychophysiological investigations performed in this study suggest several heuristic perspectives concerning the central pathophysiology of epilepsy. The results obtained within the field of the neurosciences are consistent with the hypothesis suggested by chronobiology that central hyperactivation negatively influences the tonic-clonic susceptibility. Such experiments respectively conducted in chronobiology and fundamental neurology provide a quantitative approach for a better understanding of some brain mechanisms regulating seizure susceptibility.