Nerve Growth Factor Accelerates Seizure Development, Enhances Mossy Fiber Sprouting, and Attenuates Seizure-Induced Decreases in Neuronal Density in the Kindling Model of Epilepsy

Recurrent seizure activity induced during kindling has been reported to produce a functional synaptic reorganization of the mossy fibers in the hippocampus. To date, it is unclear whether this kindling-induced growth is secondary to decreases in hilar neuron density, which are presumed to reflect hilar neuronal cell loss, or whether it is related specifically to an activation-dependent plasticity. We recently demonstrated that blocking nerve …