The Fall 2024 Biology Seminar Series continues with a talk from Dr. Lucie Suchomelova, "Epilepsy, Antiepileptic Drugs and Aggression."
In humans, the relationship between epilepsy and aggression has a long and controversial history, from relatively common postictal aggression to anecdotal reports of aggression in patients with chronic epilepsy. However, linkages of epilepsy to aggression, if they exist, are complex and may inadvertently stigmatize people with epilepsy if they are not fully understood or described. The study of human aggression using animal seizure models has many potential pitfalls, but several studies show common neuroanatomical, neurochemical, and genetic substrates for epilepsy and aggression, which may explain the role of the neural substrates of aggression in the background of epilepsy. Our model lends itself to the study of status epilepticus(SE)-associated changes in aggressive behavior, of the relationship between behavioral and anatomical changes following SE in the chronic seizure period, and of the influence of treatment on the development and possibly the prevention, of behavioral sequelae of SE. Studies like these could potentially shed light on the neurobiological substrates of ictal vs. interictal aggression and discern the impact of critical complicating factors, such as the effects of medication and brain damage on multiple forms of aggression.
