The present study sought to determine the effects of kindled
seizures generated from the left and right amygdala upon
weight gain in rat. Seventy-five female Sprague-Dawley rats were implanted with
electrodes in basal amygdala of the left and right hemispheres. A kindling paradigm was employed in which electrical stimulation was applied once per day for 30 days after Stage 5
seizures. An
electrode was implanted into the basal amygdala of the control rats but no stimulation was applied. All rats were weighed daily during the course of the experiment and changes in weight during this period were recorded for all rats. The results demonstrated that kindling from either the left or right amygdala induced significant increases in
weight gain relative to the control rats. However, kindling from the left basal amygdala induced increases in
body weight that were four times greater than control rats and two times greater than the rats kindled from the right side of the basal amygdala. Likewise, serum
leptin levels, which were highly correlated with
weight gain, also showed significantly greater increases in left amygdaloid kindled rats relative to rats kindled from the right amygdala and control rats. These findings demonstrate that basal amygdaloid kindling induces significant increases in
weight gain and that the magnitude of these effects is linked to the dominance of the left hemisphere.