Approximately 50 million people worldwide suffer from epilepsy. Chronic temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is one of the most prevalent forms of the syndrome. Currently this disorder is predominantly untreatable with medicines. It often occurs after a traumatic head injury (as, for example, that caused by a car accident) or fits induced by high fever. There is a delay (the so-called ‘latent period’) between the precipitating insult and the occurrence of spontaneous fits (seizures; defined as the onset of chronic TLE). It is during the latent period that changes in the brain leading to spontaneous fits occur. To obtain better treatment for chronic TLE, it is important to understand these changes. Ion channels are specialized proteins present in the membranes of brain nerve cells and are important for determining their function. Using models that replicate many if the features of the the human condition, I have recently shown that during the latent period, a particular ion channel, the h-channel, is persistently reduced in number in the cortex (an area of the brain where seizures are generated). I now wish to investigate more about the role of this channel in seizure generation. I also wish to understand more about how the expression of this channel is regulated in neurons. To do this, I am using a variety of state-of-the art techniques including recording electrical currents produced by activation of ion channels from single, genetically modified cortical nerve cells. The possible ramifications of this research are manifold, including a better understanding the mechanisms underlying TLE and the identification of novel treatment strategies.