Changes in intra- and extracellular ionic activity and their relation to generation and termination of seizure phenomena can be studied with the help of ion-selective microelectrodes. Transient changes in extracellular potassium activity (aK) of the cortex regularly accompany paroxysmal activity induced by electrical stimulation and pentylenetetrazol injections or occur within active penicillin and aluminum foci. A rise of aK from baseline levels of about 3 mmoles/l up to ceiling levels of 8--12 mmoles/l, followed by subnormal K activity, is typically found during seizure discharge. Extracellular K accumulation during seizures facilitates the spread into extrafocal regions. Ceiling levels of extracellular aK are characterized by pronounced K reabsorption which is probably a limiting mechanism for the rise in extracellular aK. It may be a consequence of a simultaneous rise in intracellular Na activity that an electrogenic Na--K exchange process is involved in the termination of ictal activity. Seizures are also accompanied by significant reductions in extracellular Ca2+ activity (aCa) to as low as 0.7 mmoles/l (resting aCa 1.25 mmoles/l). There is no critical level of lowered aCa at which a seizure ultimately results. However, unlike changes in aK reductions in aCa can precede ictal activity. Thus, a fall of aCa occurs before the onset of paroxysmal periods during cyclical spike driving in a penicillin focus and before seizures induced by pentylenetetrazol. Ca2+-dependent mechanisms may contribute to seizure generation. In addition to changes in aK and aCa, intracellular chloride activity (aCl) can increase during seizure activity, as a result of an impaired chloride extrusion mechanism, which would lead to a reduced efficacy of inhibitory synaptic transmission and, therefore, to facilitation of seizure generation.