GABA Becomes Exciting

摘要

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases, affecting 1 to 2% of the world's population. It is caused by a state of neuronal hyperexcitability, or more precisely, by massive hypersynchronous discharges from large numbers of neurons in the brain. Numerous studies have sought to unravel the mechanisms underlying epileptic seizures. Despite a consensus view that voltage-gated ion channels controlling cell excitability and synaptic processes responsible for communication among neurons are involved, the specific events leading up to epileptic discharges are largely unknown. On page 1418 of this issue, Cohen et al. (4) shed light on the underlying causes of epileptic seizures with their in vitro study of brain tissue from 21 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. Their findings suggest that interneurons producing the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA together with aberrantly behaving excitatory pyramidal neurons in the hippocampal region can precipitate epileptic seizures.