Epilepsy, compulsion and oxytocin: Insights from behavioral sequences, using neuroethology and complexity systems approaches.

Epilepsies are complex neurological entities usually co-existing with neuropsychiatric comorbidities. We already demonstrated that microinjection of oxytocin (OT) into the central nucleus of amygdala (CeA) induces hypergrooming in Wistar rats, a model of compulsion. Furthermore, the Wistar Audiogenic Rat (WAR) strain is a genetic model of generalized tonic-clonic seizures.

Intense olfactory stimulation blocks seizures in an experimental model of epilepsy.

There are reports of patients whose epileptic seizures are prevented by means of olfactory stimulation. Similar findings were described in animal models of epilepsy, such as the electrical kindling of amygdala, where olfactory stimulation with toluene (TOL) suppressed seizures in most rats, even when the stimuli were 20% above the threshold to evoke seizures in already kindled animals. The Wistar Audiogenic Rat (WAR) strain is a model of tonic-clonic seizures induced by acute acoustic stimulation, although it also expresses limbic seizures when repeated acoustic stimulation occurs - a process known as audiogenic kindling (AK).

Behavioral and cardiorespiratory responses to bilateral microinjections of oxytocin into the central nucleus of amygdala of Wistar rats, an experimental model of compulsion.

Introduction: The central nucleus of amygdala plays an important role mediating fear and anxiety responses. It is known that oxytocin microinjections into the central nucleus of amygdala induce hypergrooming, an experimental model of compulsive behavior. We evaluated the behavioral and cardiorespiratory responses of conscious rats microinjected with oxytocin into the central nucleus of amygdala.