Neurobiological links between epilepsy and mood disorders

Abstract

With increasing realization of the extent and consequences of depressive comorbidity in epilepsy, much human and animal research has focussed on its explanation. Recent studies tackle all three explanatory possibilities: that epilepsy leads to depression; that depression contributes to causation of epilepsy; or that shared causal factors or processes lead to both epilepsy and depression. These are not mutually exclusive; all three probably contribute. Animal models have provided many insights into the interplay between epilepsy and depressive-like behaviours, both associations and mechanisms. Notably, experimental stress potently affects epilepsy endpoints, as well as depressive-like behavio..