The Editors are grateful for the contributions of many experts who generously offered their time and energy to both the Jasper’s Basic Mechanisms of the Epilepsies workshops and the publication of this book. Like us, they believed that periodic assessment of progress in basic epilepsy research and charting future directions are essential to move our field forward, and thus to achieve effective cures of epileptic disorders.

We are especially thankful to the distinguished members of the editorial advisory board, which includes Christophe Bernard, Amy Brooks-Kayal, Marco de Curtis, Peyman Golshani, David Henshall, Arnold Kriegstein, Wolfgang Löscher, Berge Minassian, Jack Parent, Helen E. Scharfman, José M. Serratosa, Ivan Soltesz, and H. Steve White, and we recognize their help in identifying specific topics as well as in peer review of the chapters. For the latter task we also thank Silvia Balosso, Tallie Z. Baram, Anatol Bragin, Gary P. Brennan, Enrico Cherubini, Vincenzo Crunelli, Ray Dingledine, Jens Dreier, Ed Dudek, Daniel Goldenholz, Vadym Gnatkovsky, Jean Gotman, Andres Kanner, Merab Kokaia, Maxime Levésque, Nicola Marchi, Andrey Mazarati, Christian Naus, Roger J. Porter, Asla Pitkanen, Teresa Ravizza, Jong Rho, Viji Santhakumar, Michele Simonato, Carl Stafstrom, C. Jussi Tohka, and Nhan Duy Truong for their invaluable expertise.

Essential for the realization of our book were the fifth Jasper’s Basic Mechanisms of the Epilepsies International workshops that were held on March 4–9, 2019, at the Yosemite Lodge of the Falls in Yosemite National Park, California (www.jbme5.info/). As in previous years, the presentations and discussions at the Yosemite meeting provided a foundation for each section of the book. This meeting, which drew over 120 international participants, was organized following several planning meetings of the senior and associate editors in Canada, Italy, and the United States.

We are indebted to those who helped staff this endeavor. Eric Raap at Baylor College of Medicine flawlessly organized the logistics of our meeting in Yosemite. Throughout the process of preparing the book, we have counted on the excellent administrative assistance of Colleen Stone at UC Davis.

Financial support for the meeting which resulted in this book was provided by the American Epilepsy Society, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy, who designated funds allowing the participation of young investigators, as well as the Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Baylor College of Medicine, Blue Bird Circle Foundation, Loulou Foundation, UC Davis School of Medicine, and UCLA. Industry supporters included Eisai, UCB, Greenwich Bioscience, SK Life Science, Xenon, Ionis, and Zogenix.

We especially thank Craig Panner of Oxford University Press for his steadfast support during the editorial odyssey we experienced while assembling these chapters during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last but not least, we want to thank all the authors of the chapters that are included in this fifth edition of Jasper’s Basic Mechanisms of the Epilepsies. Once asked, they admirably and swiftly responded to the challenge.

Looking back, we salute our predecessors, originally led by Herbert H. Jasper, who conceived the first edition of Jasper’s Basic Mechanisms of the Epilepsies over 50 years ago and perpetuated the tradition each subsequent decade.