The combination of genetic and environmental factors that contribute to human autoimmune responses has made potential triggers of these diseases difficult to identify. We examined how experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of multiple sclerosis, is triggered using TCR-transgenic mice specific for myelin basic protein (MBP). In these TCR-transgenic mice, EAE can be actively induced and also occurs spontaneously. The incidence of spontaneous EAE in this model is largely confined to adolescence and early adulthood and is more prevalent among males than females, indicating that hormonal influences may contribute to triggering central nervous system autoimmune disease. Disease induction studies show that not all stimuli that activate MBP-specific T cells in vivo also induce EAE. Immunization with MBP peptide stimulates the transgenic T cells to produce Th1 cytokines; however, the activated T cells do not accumulate in the central nervous system and induce EAE unless pertussis toxin is also administered. EAE can be induced by intrathecal injection of either stimulated or nonstimulated transgenic T cells into nontransgenic or transgenic recipients. Therefore, gaining access to the central nervous system appears to be the critical step in this model for the induction of EAE, regardless of the activation state of the T cells.