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Conditional reflexes and sensory-evoked epilepsy: The nature of the therapeutic process

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Abstract

Studies of conditional reflex therapy for patients with sensory-evoked epilepsy are reviewed and experimental studies in animals reported. The behavioral methods employed in the therapy are reviewed. They are of a conditioning nature and are defined as clinical therapeutic conditioning.

Sensory-evoked epilepsy can be induced in animals by conditioning techniques, provided the animal brain has been rendered epileptogenic. Sensory-evoked epilepsy in patients can be made worse by conditioning, and can be changed from one type to another. However, sensory-evoked seizures in humans are not the result of conditional reflexes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Epilepsy Center and the Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin

    Francis M. Forster

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  1. Francis M. Forster
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Additional information

Supported by U.S.P.H.S. Grant B03360 awarded by the N.A.N.D.B. Council. Presented at the meeting of the Pavlovian Society of North America, November 11, 1967, at Princeton, New Jersey.

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Forster, F.M. Conditional reflexes and sensory-evoked epilepsy: The nature of the therapeutic process. Conditional Reflex 4, 103–114 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03000088

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