CELLULAR MECHANISMS IN EXPERIMENTAL EPILEPTIC SEIZURES

Abstract

Action potentials of single cells, recorded by means of extracellular microelectrodes from the cat's cerebral cortex after topical application of penicillin, undergo characteristic changes in the course of seizure episodes. In individual neurons, these changes in spike configuration are fully reversible and are repeatedly observed with each of such episodes. Two alternative interpretations offered for these findings appear to be critically dependent upon the relationship between the position of the microelectrode and the cell itself: there might be a transitory failure of the spike to invade part of the neuronal membrane or transitory neuronal swelling.