BACKGROUND: Patients who have hip joint diseases sometimes complain of knee pain as well as hip joint area pain. However, the precise sensory innervation pattern and correlation of the sensory nerves of the hip joint and knee are unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate dorsal root ganglion ...

Distinct rhythmic behaviors involving a common set of motoneurons and muscles can be generated by separate CNS networks, a single network, or partly overlapping networks in invertebrates. Less is known for vertebrates. Simultaneous activation of two networks can reveal overlap or interactions between them. The turtle spinal cord contains networks ...

Epilepsy-associated changes of the anatomical organization of the dentate gyrus and hilus may play a critical role in the initiation and propagation of seizures in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE). This study evaluated the role of longitudinal projections in the propagation of hippocampal paroxysmal discharges (HPD) in dorsal hippocampus by ...

The symptomatology of auras and seizures is a reflection of activation of specific parts of the brain by the ictal discharge, the location and extent of which represent the symptomatogenic zone. The symptomatogenic zone is presumably, though not necessarily, in close proximity to the epileptogenic zone, the area responsible for ...

Dendritic trees influence synaptic integration and neuronal excitability, yet appear to develop in rather arbitrary patterns. Using electron microscopy and serial reconstructions, we analyzed the dendritic trees of four morphologically distinct neocortical interneuron subtypes to reveal two underlying organizational principles common to all. First, cross-sectional areas at any given point ...

Diverse brain insults, including traumatic brain injury, stroke, infections, tumors, neurodegenerative diseases, and prolonged acute symptomatic seizures, such as complex febrile seizures or status epilepticus (SE), can induce "epileptogenesis," a process by which normal brain tissue is transformed into tissue capable of generating spontaneous recurrent seizures. Furthermore, epileptogenesis operates in ...

Sixty years ago the clinical neurophysiology of epilepsy had progressed to the stage that it posed questions that could be addressed by major advances in cellular electrophysiology made around the that time. However, it took about 25-30 years to build up serious momentum in understanding the mechanisms of epileptic discharges. ...

Purpose:  We developed a technique to produce images of dynamic changes in ictal high-frequency oscillations (HFOs) >40 Hz recorded on subdural electroencephalography (EEG) that are time-locked to the ictal EEG and ictal semiology video. We applied this technique to Jacksonian seizures to demonstrate ictal HFO propagation along the homunculus in the ...

Febrile seizures occurring during childhood have been shown to interfere with the development of cognitive functions. However, an alteration of the developing sensory systems might also result from febrile seizures. In order to test this hypothesis, seizures were induced by hyperthermia in Long Evans rats on postnatal day 10. Extracellular ...

Seizure activity induces transient changes in the levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and somatostatin (SS) in various brain regions, but it remains unclear whether this effect can persist for long periods and whether it is relevant to epileptogenesis. We report that brief seizures evoked by electroshock produced an increase in ...

Heat shock protein 70 kDa (Hsp70) possesses a remarkable neuroprotective activity and the results of recent studies demonstrated its efficacy in the attenuation of epileptic seizures. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of a pure Hsp70/Hsc70 preparation delivered to the brain regions involved in generalized seizures ...

Vesicular glutamate transporters (VGLUTs) load glutamate into synaptic vesicles. In this issue of Neuron, Juge et al. report that ketone bodies compete with chloride-dependent activation of VGLUTs, leading to suppression of glutamate release and seizures. These findings provide a surprising explanation for the efficacy of the ketogenic diet in controlling epilepsy.

Synchronization of local and distributed neuronal assemblies is thought to underlie fundamental brain processes such as perception, learning, and cognition. In neurological disease, neuronal synchrony can be altered and in epilepsy may play an important role in the generation of seizures. Linear cross-correlation and mean phase coherence of local field ...

Patients who have seizure onset from different brain regions can produce seizures that appear clinically indistinguishable from one another. These clinically stereotypic manifestations reflect epileptic activation of specific networks. Several studies have shown that ictal perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) can reveal propagated ictal activity. We hypothesize that ...

Epileptic nystagmus (EN) describes repetitive eye movements that result from seizure activity. We describe a patient with EN and vertigo first noted at the age of 4 yr and 10 mo. Brain MRI did not show anomalies. Ictal EEG recordings revealed epileptic activity during three episodes of horizontal, left-beating nystagmus ...

Epilepsy is the most prevalent neurological disorder in humans after stroke. Recurrent seizure is the main characteristic of the epilepsy. Electroencephalogram (EEG) is the recording of brain electrical activity and it contains valuable information related to the different physiological states of the brain. Thus, EEG is considered an indispensable tool ...

Gap junctions within the cerebral cortex may facilitate cortical seizure formation by their ability to synchronize electrical activity. To investigate this, one option is to compare wild-type (WT) animals with those lacking the gene for connexin36 (Cx36 KO); the protein that forms neuronal gap junctions between cortical inhibitory cells. However, ...

Functional expression of the K-Cl cotransporter KCC2 in developing central neurons is crucial for the maturation of Cl(-)-dependent, GABA(A) receptor-mediated inhibitory responses. In pyramidal neurons of the rodent hippocampus, GABAergic postsynaptic responses are typically depolarizing and often excitatory during the first postnatal week. Here, we show that a single neonatal ...

PURPOSE: The kindling of seizures with stimulation of brainstem sites has been reported inconsistently in the literature. The characteristics of the kindling observed, involving high intensities of stimulation and immediate onset of generalized tonic-clonic convulsions, raise questions regarding the nature of kindling from these sites. METHODS: We implanted chronic electrodes ...

Seizures are more prevalent during the neonatal period than at any other time in the human lifespan. During early development, neonates are developmentally predisposed to excitatory neuronal activity increasing their susceptibility to seizures. Status epilepticus is poorly defined in this subpopulation with a lack of a consensus definition. In this ...

OPINION STATEMENT: Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) for epilepsy is a well established and effective treatment for medically intractable epilepsy. VNS is indicated if resective epilepsy surgery is unsuccessful or is not an option. About 50% of patients with VNS have a seizure reduction greater than 50%, but less than 10% ...

A 34-year-old woman developed a sustained right homonymous hemianopia and episodic visual hallucinations 8 days after liver transplant surgery. Neuro-ophthalmologic examination and perimetry confirmed a right homonymous hemianopia with macular sparing. The patient's vital signs and laboratory values, including a comprehensive metabolic panel and drug levels, were unremarkable. Brain MRI ...

The present study was designed to determine whether low-frequency stimulation (LFS) of the entorhinal cortex(EC) has an anticonvulsive effect, and whether LFS delivered at different times plays different roles. We found that LFS of the EC immediately or 4 s after kindling stimulation had an anticonvulsive effect, and that the ...

In refractory temporal lobe epilepsy, seizures often arise from a shrunken hippocampus exhibiting a pattern of selective neuron loss called "classic hippocampal sclerosis." No single experimental injury has reproduced this specific pathology, suggesting that hippocampal atrophy might be a progressive "endstage" pathology resulting from years of spontaneous seizures. We posed ...

Postictal motor deficits may occur in patients following partial and generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Frequency is unclear, epidemiology being hampered by heterogeneous populations and variable methods of detection. Postictal paresis may affect any body part, may be bilateral, and may occur more frequently in seizures involving the sensorimotor cortex. Duration varies ...

Little is known about how the brain limits seizure duration and terminates seizures. Depending on severity and duration, a single seizure is followed by various functional, metabolic, and synaptic changes that may form targets for novel therapeutic strategies. It is long known that most seizures are followed by a period ...

Several observations make it worthwhile to take a closer look at postictal events, which are defined as manifestations of seizure-induced reversible alterations in neuronal function. The postictal period may adversely affect the quality of life, considering the duration and severity of postictal events. The postictal period is often longer than ...

Focal seizures appear to start abruptly and unpredictably when recorded from volumes of brain probed by clinical intracranial electroencephalograms. To investigate the spatiotemporal scale of focal epilepsy, wide-bandwidth electrophysiological recordings were obtained using clinical macro- and research microelectrodes in patients with epilepsy and control subjects with intractable facial pain. Seizure-like ...

Given the tremendous success of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for the treatment of movement and neuropsychiatric disorders, clinicians have begun to open up to the possible use of electrical stimulation for the treatment of patients with uncontrolled seizures. This process has resulted in the discovery of a wide array of ...

We found the voltage-gated K+ channel Kv12.2 to be a potent regulator of excitability in hippocampal pyramidal neurons. Genetic deletion and pharmacologic block of Kv12.2 substantially reduced the firing threshold of these neurons. Kv12.2-/- (also known as Kcnh3-/-) mice showed signs of persistent neuronal hyperexcitability including frequent interictal spiking, spontaneous ...

In order to shorten the list of candidate drugs with anticonvulsant potential against nerve agents, critical subreceptors in seizure controlling brain regions should be specified. Epileptiform activity does not spread randomly throughout the brain, but appears to be generated and propagated by specific anatomical routes. Nerve agents evoke seizure activity ...

A case of focal inferior limb sensory-motor status epilepticus as the only manifestation of a multiple sclerosis (MS) relapse is described. To obtain evidence of the relationship between the seizures, the cortical plaque and the left foot motor area, an EEG-fMRI co-registration study was undertaken demonstrating that seizure-related BOLD signal ...

We report a case of a girl who presented with typical absence seizures at age of 4.5 years. EEG showed absence seizures of sudden onset with 3 Hz spike-and-waves that also correlated with the clinical absences. The seizure semiology included subtle deviation of the eyes which prompted MRI investigation of ...

Undoubtedly, the use of oximes represents real progress in counteracting intoxications with organophosphates (OP), through potentiating antidotal effects of atropine. The penetration extent of these compounds through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to significantly reactivate phosphorylated or phosphonylated acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in the brain still remains a debatable issue. Penetration of biological ...

A high incidence of seizures occurs during the neonatal period when immature networks are hyperexcitable and susceptible to hypersyncrhonous activity. During development, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in adults, typically excites neurons due to high expression of the Na(+)-K(+)-2Cl(-) cotransporter (NKCC1). NKCC1 facilitates seizures because it renders GABA ...

Focal Cortical Dysplasias (FCDs) are highly epileptogenic brain lesions and are a frequent cause for drug-resistant focal epilepsies in humans. FCDs present with variable histopathological patterns, including architectural, cytoarchitectural or white matter abnormalities. Pathomechanisms compromising neuroblast proliferation, migration, or differentiation are likely to play a role in the etiology of ...

Transient suppression of the motor cortex and of the speech areas cause well-described postictal phenomena following seizures involving the respective cortical areas. Pain is a rare symptom in epileptic seizures. We present a patient with painful tonic seizures in the left leg. The amplitude of the cortical component of the ...

Direct brain stimulation is an emerging treatment of epilepsy. Scheduled or responsive stimulation has been applied. The most explored targets for scheduled stimulation are the anterior nucleus of the thalamus and the hippocampus. The anterior nucleus of the thalamus was studied in a large multicenter trial. There was a significant ...

Most of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic interneurons in the cerebral cortex originate from restricted regions of the ventral telencephalon known as the caudal and medial ganglionic eminence (MGE) and from the preoptic area. It is well established that dysfunction of GABAergic interneurons can lead to epilepsy. During the last decade ...

Brain stimulation is currently used as an experimental treatment for patients with medically refractory epilepsy. However, the results of such stimulation are still less than optimal. A major factor is the lack of understanding of the mechanisms of applied stimuli. Herein we review evidence on the effects of stimulation in ...

Extracellular matrix (ECM) in the brain is composed of molecules synthesized and secreted by neurons and glial cells, which form stable aggregates of diverse composition in the extracellular space. In the mature brain, ECM undergoes a slow turnover and restrains structural plasticity while supporting multiple physiologic processes, including perisomatic gamma-aminobutyric ...

Supplementary motor area seizures may present with bilateral tonic-clonic movements with no loss of consciousness and no postictal confusion, and patients may be erroneously thought to have psychogenic nonepileptic seizures. We describe the rapid emergence of alpha activity in the immediate postictal period in patients with supplementary motor area seizures ...

PURPOSE: To estimate magnetoencephalography (MEG) correlates of different types of aura in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). METHODS: MEG study was performed on 57 patients (26 male and 31 female) with TLE, whose ages ranged from 14-46 years (mean 27 years). Interictal magnetoencephalograms showing discharges were analyzed, and spike-dipole clusters were ...

Nerve agent-induced seizures cause neuronal damage in brain limbic and cortical circuits leading to persistent behavioral and cognitive deficits. Without aggressive anticholinergic and benzodiazepine therapy, seizures can be prolonged and neuronal damage progresses for extended periods of time. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of the ...

Electroencephalographic (EEG) seizures and behavioral convulsions begin to appear spontaneously a few weeks after chemoconvulsant-induced status epilepticus (SE) and thereafter become more intense. This indicates the progressive development of a long-lasting epileptic focus. In addition, chemoconvulsant-induced SE increases neuronal proliferation in the dentate subgranular zone (SGZ) and ectopic migration of ...

Polysialylated neuronal cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM), a polysialylated protein constitutively expressed in the hippocampus, is involved in neuronal growth, synaptic plasticity and neurotrophin signaling. In particular, PSA-NCAM mediates Ret-independent glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) signaling, leading to downstream FAK activation. GDNF has potent seizure-suppressant action, whereas PSA-NCAM is upregulated by seizure ...

It has long been held that chronic seizures cause blood-brain barrier (BBB) damage. Recent studies have also demonstrated that BBB damage triggers seizures. We have used the BBB osmotic disruption procedure (BBBD) to examine the correlation between BBB opening, pattern of white blood cell (WBCs) entry into the brain and ...

In patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsies (IGEs), bursts of generalized spike and wave discharges (GSWDs) lasting > or =2 seconds are considered absence seizures. The location of the absence seizures generators in IGEs is thought to involve interplay between various components of thalamocortical circuits; we have recently postulated that medication ...

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is now emerging as a new option for treating intractable epilepsy. Cumulative studies suggest that the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus (MD) is involved in limbic seizure activity. This study aims to investigate whether DBS of the MD can protect against seizures induced by amygdaloid kindling. We studied ...

The developing brain undergoes major reorganization in response to early environmental changes. The elevated excitation that allows the neonatal brain to develop quickly also makes it highly vulnerable to age-specific seizures that can cause lifelong cognitive and neurological disability. However, it is not yet clear how seizures interfere with the ...