Biochemistry Commons^™

The Influence Of The Estrous Cycle On Acute Seizure Activity, Alexis Yagielski

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Epilepsy is a neurological disease that is characterized by spontaneous seizure activity. Seizures are excitatory events that result from the abnormal excessive and hypersynchronous firing of populations of neurons in the brain. Catamenial epilepsy is a condition in which seizure threshold fluctuates during the female menstrual cycle. It is commonly hypothesized that this fluctuation is due to the changes in estradiol:progesterone ratio that occur over the course of the menstrual cycle (Herzog, 2008). It has been shown in many studies that estradiol has proconvulsant properties whereas progesterone possesses anticonvulsant properties. Considering the pattern of hormonal variation and the effects of …