Abstract Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological problems, affecting an estimated 50 million people worldwide. It is defined as a predisposition to recurrent unprovoked epileptic seizures, which are the clinical manifestations of transient abnormalities of neuronal activity in the cerebral cortex. Epileptic seizures represent a transient malfunction that can occur in any mammalian brain and may be provoked by a wide variety of factors from mechanical trauma to hypoglycemia. As might be anticipated in such a complex organ, their manifestations are highly variable, from the well-known, generalized tonic–clonic seizure or ‘‘grand-mal’’ convulsion in which consciousness is lost and the limbs shake, to brief sensory or cognitive disturbances only apparent to the patient. Epileptic seizures fall into two main categories: generalized, which begin simultaneously in both cerebral hemispheres, and partial (or focal), which originate in one or more localized foci in the brain.