Does the epileptic threshold change with age?

Both the incidence and prevalence of epilepsy are high among the elderly. Older patients have high comorbidity associated with epilepsy (e.g. cerebrovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases) but a great proportion of seizures in this population cannot be classified. Findings consistent with increased cortical excitability after transcranial magnetic stimulation in the elderly represent one of the epileptogenesis changes in the aging brain. Several studies have shown an enhanced vulnerability to the known convulsant agents domoic acid and/or its structural analogue, kainate, in elderly humans and aged rodents. Epileptogenic threshold changes during aging could be explain by: 1) changes in functional connectivity, in number or functionality of gap junctions or receptor (specially N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors), 2) changes in both local excitatory and inhibitory circuit activity and changes in brain Ca2+ homeostasis.