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Effect of repeated daily electrical stimulation on seizure activity in the rabbit limbic system

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Abstract

The order of appearance, the functional relations, and changes in the epileptiform effects of electrical stimulation of the limbic system (septum, amygdala, hippocampus) were studied. During repeated electrical stimulation regular changes took place in the seizure activity: the duration, frequency, and amplitude of the after-discharges were increased, their polarity was changed, seizures and unsynchronized high-amplitude activity appeared, and the after-discharges were reactivated. The most common variants of the seizure patterns are described. Close correlation was found between the greatest intensity of the after-discharges and the appearance of seizures. Besides a critical number of after-discharges, their parameters and their degree of irradiation also play an important role in the onset of the seizures. It is postulated that the limbic structures may play the role of an organized epileptogenic focus. Facts indicating that the seizure activity in response to direct electrical stimulation of the limbic structures may have a reflex mechanism are presented.

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Khar'kov Medical Institute. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 26–36, January–February, 1974.

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Karamyshev, V.D. Effect of repeated daily electrical stimulation on seizure activity in the rabbit limbic system. Neurophysiology 6, 19–26 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01064642

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01064642

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