Spike-wave discharges in absence epilepsy: segregation of electrographic components reveals distinct pathways of seizure activity.
Abstract
The major electrophysiological hallmarks of absence seizures are spike and wave discharges (SWDs), consisting of a sharp spike component and a slow wave component. In a widely accepted scheme, these components are functionally coupled and reflect an iterative progression of neuronal excitation during the spike and post-excitatory silence during the wave. In a genetic rat model of absence epilepsy, local pharmacological inhibition of the centromedian thalamus (CM) selectively suppressed the spike component, leaving self-contained waves in epidural recordings. Thalamic inputs induced activity in cortical microcircuits underlying the spike component, while intracortical oscillations generated the wave component. Based on these findings, we propose a model in which oscillatory waves provide adequate time windows for integration of thalamocortical inputs and feedback responses during generation of a synchronized SWD. Spike and wave discharges (SWDs) are the electrographic hallmark of absence seizures and the major diagnostic criterion for childhood absence epilepsy (CAE). In a widely accepted scheme, the alternating sequence of spikes and waves reflects an iterative progression of neuronal excitation during the spike component and p...Continue Reading
References
Afferent connections of the medial frontal cortex of the rat. II. Cortical and subcortical afferents
Dysregulation of sodium channel expression in cortical neurons in a rodent model of absence epilepsy
Citations
Reconsidering Network Mechanisms in Absence Seizures: Unhitching the Wave Cart From the Spike Horse.
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