The baboon in epilepsy research: Revelations and challenges

C. Ákos Szabó, Felipe S. Salinas

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

The baboon offers a natural model for genetic generalized epilepsy with photosensitivity. In this review, we will summarize some of the more important clinical, neuroimaging, and elctrophysiological findings form recent work performed at the Southwest National Primate Research Center (SNPRC, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas), which houses the world's largest captive baboon pedigree. Due to the phylogenetic proximity of the baboon to humans, many of the findings are readily translatable, but there may be some important differences, such as the mutlifocality of the ictal and interictal epileptic discharges (IEDs) on intracranial electroencephalography (EEG) and greater parieto-occipital connectivity of baboon brain networks compared to juvenile myoclonic epilepsy in humans. Furthermore, there is still limited knowledge of the natural history of the epilepsy, which could be transformative for research into epileptogenesis in genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE) and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP).

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number108012
JournalEpilepsy and Behavior
Volume121
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2021

Keywords

  • Baboon
  • Electrophysiology
  • Genetic generalized epilepsy
  • Neuroimaging
  • Neurostimulation
  • Seizure detection

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Neurology
  • Clinical Neurology
  • Behavioral Neuroscience

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