Audiogenic seizures induce c- fos in a model of developmental epilepsy

In rats made susceptible to audiogenic seizures by exposing them to an intense noise at a critical time during development, subsequent noise exposure elicited seizures and induced the proto-oncogene c- fos in auditory regions of the brain. Cells showing Fos-like immunoreactivity were especially dense in dorsal and external cortices of the inferior colliculus, and were nearly absent after pretreatment with the N- methyl- d-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist MK-801. Noise exposure alone (i.e. no seizure) produced a localized zone of c- fos induction within the inferior colliculus, but only when presented during the time period when susceptibility to audiogenic seizures can be most effectively induced.