Brain function in epilepsy: midbrain, medullary, and cerebellar interaction with the rostral forebrain

Abstract

Against the background previous findings in epileptic patients, in whom electroencephalographic recordings were obtained from numerous deep and surface brain sites during seizures, rhesus monkeys with electrodes implanted into specific brain sites were used to demonstrate anatomical connections by evoked potential techniques and to serve as models of experimental epilepsy. In the animals, many monosynaptic connections were revealed between forebrain sites consistently involved in seizures in patients and more caudal brain sites subserving functions of sensory perception, eye movement, synaptic chemical transmission, and motor coordination. Further, the participation of these interrelated sites during seizures was demonstrated. The findings provide an anatomical-physiological explanation for many of the clinical phenomena observed in epileptic patients and a rationale for the use of cerebellar stimulation as a treatment.