SummarySeizure discharges involving hippocampus and parahippocampal structures are the hallmark of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Herein we discuss neuronal synchronization in limbic networks from control and epileptic brains under conditions that are inductive for the generation of seizure‐like discharges. In particular, we address the paradoxic role played by inhibitory mechanisms in supporting epileptiform hypersynchrony. For an expanded treatment of this topic see Jasper’s Basic Mechanisms of the Epilepsies, Fourth Edition (Noebels JL, Avoli M, Rogawski MA, Olsen RW, Delgado‐Escueta AV, eds) published by Oxford University Press (available on the National Library of Medicine Bookshelf [NCBI] at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books).