The main goal of the study of seizures is to identify the mechanisms underlying synchronous electrical discharges in neuronal networks in order to develop more effective and less toxic treatements and cures for epilepsy. A unique, intellectually challenging aspect of epilepsy research arises from the fact that it encompasses virtually all major levels of biological organization, from genes and ion channels to circuits and behavior. The major purpose of this Gordon conference is to bring together geneticists, molecular biologists, developmental neuroscientists, neuroanatomists, electrophysiologists and computational neuroscientists working on basic mechanisms related either directly or indirectly to seizure generation to synthesize current advances and to set the stage for future discoveries.

Topics to be covered include gene expression profiling in epilepsy, epileptogenic ion channels, epileptogenic dysgenesis, homeostatic plasticity, structural reorganization in epilepsy, hypersynchrony and non-linear dynamics, gap junctions, key events underlying epileptogenesis, and entorhino-hippocampal interplay in epilepsy.