IL1B and juvenile absence epilepsy: This enhanced cortical expression of IL-1β is not simply an epiphenomenon because the systemic injection of a specific blocker of IL-1β synthesis drastically decreases absence seizures in this model (Akin and others 2011) and the injection of an IL-1β inducer increases the number of absence seizures in WAG/Rij rats (Kovács and others 2006), another well-established model of absence epilepsy (Coenen and Van Luijtelaar 2003).