SUSCEPTIBILITY TO CONVULSIONS IN RELATION TO AGE

Abstract

The marked liability of young children and infants to convulsive disorders is well recognized.¹A young child may react with convulsions to a stimulus, such as an infection or intoxication, which in an older subject would not produce this response. This peculiarity of the young child has led to much study and speculation, but as yet there is no adequate explanation of the responsible mechanism. Although a wealth of clinical data has been accumulated with reference to this problem, a systematic investigation of the susceptibility of the organism to the development of convulsions in relation to age has not been made. Since the rat lends itself well to studies on convulsions,²this species was used to investigate the influence of various drugs and toxins on the development of convulsions at different age levels. Certain acid dyes and viruses can penetrate into the nervous system of young animals, while