| abstract |
Screening methods and instrumentation for candidate pharmacological agents are applied to discover compounds with muscular and/or neurological activity. The method comprises the use of teleost fish, such as the medaka ( Oryzias latipes ), which may be stimulated with chemical agents or an electric field to produce, for example, seizure activity and/or convulsive activity. The convulsive behavior may be recorded optically and electrically. Antagonism of the convulsive behavior is produced by application of candidate pharmacological agents to the well containing the fish. The method may include stimulation and antagonism in a plurality of sample wells with a repetitive or simultaneous application of threshold electric fields. The methods and instrumentation can be applied to the study of other serious neurological diseases such as neuropathic pain. In addition the process of assaying the protection of animals to convulsant agents the assay measures pharmacological safety parameters including sedation and cognitive impairment. |