scholarly journals Dynamics of high-frequency synchronization during seizures

2013 ◽  
Vol 109 (10) ◽  
pp. 2423-2437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giri P. Krishnan ◽  
Gregory Filatov ◽  
Maxim Bazhenov

Pathological synchronization of neuronal firing is considered to be an inherent property of epileptic seizures. However, it remains unclear whether the synchrony increases for the high-frequency multiunit activity as well as for the local field potentials (LFPs). We present spatio-temporal analysis of synchronization during epileptiform activity using wide-band (up to 2,000 Hz) spectral analysis of multielectrode array recordings at up to 60 locations throughout the mouse hippocampus in vitro. Our study revealed a prominent structure of LFP profiles during epileptiform discharges, triggered by elevated extracellular potassium, with characteristic distribution of current sinks and sources with respect to anatomical structure. The cross-coherence of high-frequency activity (500–2,000 Hz) across channels was reduced during epileptic bursts compared with baseline activity and showed the opposite trend for lower frequencies. Furthermore, the magnitude of cross-coherence during epileptiform activity was dependent on distance: electrodes closer to the epileptic foci showed increased cross-coherence and electrodes further away showed reduced cross-coherence for high-frequency activity. These experimental observations were re-created and supported in a computational model. Our study suggests that different intrinsic and synaptic processes can mediate paroxysmal synchronization at low, medium, and high frequencies.

2006 ◽  
Vol 95 (5) ◽  
pp. 3105-3112 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Piccinin ◽  
A. D. Randall ◽  
J. T. Brown

Synchronous neuronal firing can be induced in hippocampal slices in the absence of synaptic transmission by lowering extracellular Ca2+ and raising extracellular K+. However, the ionic mechanisms underlying this nonsynaptic synchronous firing are not well understood. In this study we have investigated the role of KCNQ /Kv7 channels in regulating this form of nonsynaptic bursting activity. Incubation of rat hippocampal slices in reduced (<0.2 mM) [Ca2+]o and increased (6.3 mM) [K+]o, blocked synaptic transmission, increased neuronal firing, and led to the development of spontaneous periodic nonsynaptic epileptiform activity. This activity was recorded extracellularly as large (4.7 ± 1.9 mV) depolarizing envelopes with superimposed high-frequency synchronous population spikes. These intraburst population spikes initially occurred at a high frequency (about 120 Hz), which decayed throughout the burst stabilizing in the gamma-frequency band (30–80 Hz). Further increasing [K+]o resulted in an increase in the interburst frequency without altering the intraburst population spike frequency. Application of retigabine (10 μM), a Kv7 channel modulator, completely abolished the bursts, in an XE-991–sensitive manner. Furthermore, application of the Kv7 channel blockers, linopirdine (10 μM) or XE-991 (10 μM) alone, abolished the gamma frequency, but not the higher-frequency population spike firing observed during low Ca2+/high K+ bursts. These data suggest that Kv7 channels are likely to play a role in the regulation of synchronous population firing activity.


2001 ◽  
Vol 86 (5) ◽  
pp. 2445-2460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rezan Demir ◽  
Lewis B. Haberly ◽  
Meyer B. Jackson

Brain slices serve as useful models for the investigation of epilepsy. However, the preparation of brain slices disrupts circuitry and severs axons, thus complicating efforts to relate epileptiform activity in vitro to seizure activity in vivo. This issue is relevant to studies in transverse slices of the piriform cortex (PC), the preparation of which disrupts extensive rostrocaudal fiber systems. In these slices, epileptiform discharges propagate slowly and in a wavelike manner, whereas such discharges in vivo propagate more rapidly and jump abruptly between layers. The objective of the present study was to identify fiber systems responsible for these differences. PC slices were prepared by cutting along three different nearly orthogonal planes (transverse, parasagittal, and longitudinal), and epileptiform discharges were imaged with a voltage-sensitive fluorescent dye. Interictal-like epileptiform activity was enabled by either a kindling-like induction process or disinhibition with bicuculline. The pattern of discharge onset was very similar in slices cut in different planes. As described previously in transverse PC slices, discharges were initiated in the endopiriform nucleus (En) and adjoining regions in a two-stage process, starting with low-amplitude “plateau activity” at one site and leading to an accelerating depolarization and discharge onset at another nearby site. The similar pattern of onset in slices of various orientations indicates that the local circuitry and neuronal properties in and around the En, rather than long-range fibers, assume dominant roles in the initiation of epileptiform activity. Subtle variations in the onset site indicate that interneurons can fine tune the site of discharge onset. In contrast to the mode of onset, discharge propagation showed striking variations. In longitudinal slices, where rostrocaudal association fibers are best preserved, discharge propagation resembled in vivo seizure activity in the following respects: propagation was as rapid as in vivo and about two to three times faster than in other slices; discharges jumped abruptly between the En and PC; and discharges had large amplitudes in superficial layers of the PC. Cuts in longitudinal slices that partially separated the PC from the En eliminated these unique features. These results help clarify why epileptiform activity differs between in vitro and in vivo experiments and suggest that rostrocaudal pyramidal cell association fibers play a major role in the propagation of discharges in the intact brain. The longitudinal PC slice, which best preserves these fibers, is ideally suited for the study their role.


2007 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Spampanato ◽  
Istvan Mody

Network activity in the 200- to 600-Hz range termed high-frequency oscillations (HFOs) has been detected in epileptic tissue from both humans and rodents and may underlie the mechanism of epileptogenesis in experimental rodent models. Slower network oscillations including theta and gamma oscillations as well as ripples are generated by the complex spike timing and interactions between interneurons and pyramidal cells of the hippocampus. We determined the activity of CA3 pyramidal cells, stratum oriens lacunosum-moleculare (O-LM) and s. radiatum lacunosum-moleculare (R-LM) interneurons during HFO in the in vitro low-Mg2+ model of epileptiform activity in GIN mice. In these animals, interneurons can be identified prior to cell-attached recordings by the expression of green-fluorescent protein (GFP). Simultaneous local field potential recordings from s. pyramidale and on-cell recordings of individual interneurons and principal cells revealed three primary firing behaviors of the active cells: 36% of O-LM interneurons and 60% of pyramidal cells fired action potentials at high frequencies during the HFO. R-LM interneurons were biphasic in that they fired at high frequency at the beginning of the HFO but stopped firing before its end. When considering only the highest frequency component of the oscillations most pyramidal cells fired on the rising phase of the oscillation. These data provide evidence for functional distinction during HFOs within otherwise homogeneous groups of O-LM interneurons and pyramidal cells.


2003 ◽  
Vol 89 (4) ◽  
pp. 2330-2333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marom Bikson ◽  
John E. Fox ◽  
John G. R. Jefferys

High-frequency activity often precedes seizure onset. We found that electrographic seizures, induced in vitro using the low-Ca2+ model, start with high-frequency (>150 Hz) activity that then decreases in frequency while increasing in amplitude. Multichannel and unit recordings showed that the mechanism of this transition was the progressive formation of larger neuronal aggregates. Thus the apparenthigh-frequency activity, at seizure onset, can reflect the simultaneous recording of several slower firing aggregates. Aggregate formation rate can be accelerated by reducing osmolarity. Because synaptic transmission is blocked when extracellular Ca2+ is reduced, nonsynaptic mechanisms (gap junctions, field effects) must be sufficient for aggregate formation and recruitment.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Díaz-Negrillo

Sleep is probably one of the most important physiological factors implicated both in epileptic seizures and interictal epileptiform discharges. The neurophysiology concerning the relationship between sleep and epilepsy is well described in the literature; however, the pathological events that culminate in the seizures are poorly explored. The present paper intends to make a rigorous approach to the main mechanisms involved in this reciprocal relation. Knowledge of sleep and sleep deprivation effects in epilepsy stands as crucial in the understanding of how seizures are produced, their possible lines of treatment, and future research.


1999 ◽  
Vol 82 (6) ◽  
pp. 3339-3346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi-Qi Xiong ◽  
Janet L. Stringer

Cesium has been widely used to study the roles of the hyperpolarization-activated (Ih) and inwardly rectifying potassium (KIR) channels in many neuronal and nonneuronal cell types. Recently, extracellular application of cesium has been shown to produce epileptiform activity in brain slices, but the mechanisms for this are not known. It has been proposed that cesium blocks the KIR in glia, resulting in an abnormal accumulation of potassium in the extracellular space and inducing epileptiform activity. This hypothesis has been tested in hippocampal slices and cultured hippocampal neurons using potassium-sensitive microelectrodes. In the present study, application of cesium produced spontaneous epileptiform discharges at physiological extracellular potassium concentration ([K+]o) in the CA1 and CA3 regions of hippocampal slices. This epileptiform activity was not mimicked by increasing the [K+]o. The epileptiform discharges induced by cesium were not blocked by the N-methyl-d- aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist AP-5, but were blocked by the non-NMDA receptor antagonist CNQX. In the dentate gyrus, cesium induced the appearance of spontaneous nonsynaptic field bursts in 0 added calcium and 3 mM potassium. Moreover, cesium increased the frequency of field bursts already present. In contrast, ZD-7288, a specific Ihblocker, did not cause spontaneous epileptiform activity in CA1 and CA3, nor did it affect the field bursts in the dentate gyrus, suggesting that cesium induced epileptiform activity is not directly related to blockade of the Ih. When potassium-sensitive microelectrodes were used to measure [K+]o, there was no significant increase in [K+]o in CA1 and CA3 after cesium application. In the dentate gyrus, cesium did not change the baseline level of [K+]o or the rate of [K+]o clearance after the field bursts. In cultured hippocampal neurons, which have a large and relatively unrestricted extracellular space, cesium also produced cellular burst activity without significantly changing the resting membrane potential, which might indicate an increase in [K+]o. Our results suggest that cesium causes epileptiform activity by a mechanism unrelated to an alteration in [K+]o regulation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (4) ◽  
pp. 1092-1101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Zhen Pan ◽  
Thomas P. Sutula ◽  
Paul A. Rutecki

2-Deoxy-d-glucose (2DG), a glucose analog that inhibits glycolysis, has acute and chronic antiepileptic effects. We evaluated 2DG’s acute effects on synaptic and membrane properties of CA3 pyramidal neurons in vitro. 2DG (10 mM) had no effects on spontaneously occurring postsynaptic currents (PSCs) in 3.5 mM extracellular potassium concentration ([K+]o). In 7.5 mM [K+]o, 2DG significantly reduced the frequency of epileptiform bursting and the charge carried by postsynaptic currents (PSCs) with a greater effect on inward excitatory compared with outward inhibitory charge (71% vs. 40%). In 7.5 mM [K+]o and bicuculline, 2DG reduced significantly the excitatory charge by 67% and decreased the frequency but not amplitude of excitatory PSCs between bursts. In 7.5 mM [K+]o, 2DG reduced pharmacologically isolated inhibitory PSC frequency without a change in amplitude. The frequency but not amplitude of inward miniature PSCs was reduced when 2DG was applied in 7.5 mM [K+]o before bath application of TTX, but there was no effect when 2DG was applied after TTX, indicating a use-dependent uptake of 2DG was required for its actions at a presynaptic locus. 2DG did not alter membrane properties of CA3 neurons except for reducing the slow afterhyperpolarization in 3.5 but not 7.5 mM [K+]o. The reduction in frequency of spontaneous and inward miniature PSCs in elevated [K+]o indicates a presynaptic mechanism of action. 2DG effects required use-dependent uptake and suggest an important role for glycolysis in neuronal metabolism and energetics in states of high neural activity as occur during abnormal network synchronization and seizures. NEW & NOTEWORTHY 2-Deoxy-d-glucose (2DG) is a glycolytic inhibitor and suppresses epileptiform activity acutely and has chronic antiepileptic effects. The mechanisms of the acute effects are not well delineated. In this study, we show 2DG suppressed abnormal network epileptiform activity without effecting normal synaptic network activity or membrane properties. The effects appear to be use dependent and have a presynaptic locus of action. Inhibition of glycolysis is a novel presynaptic mechanism to limit abnormal neuronal network activity and seizures.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 6-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. D. Sorokina ◽  
S. S. Pertsov ◽  
G. V. Selitsky

Recent studies show that the brain gamma activity includes both the gamma rhythm (standard EEG) and high frequency (100-1000 Hz) as well as super-high (>1000 Hz) frequency oscillations, as recorded by electrocorticography. As reported in the literature, the high-frequency oscillations (80-500 Hz) are highly informative markers of an epileptic focus. In this review, we analyze features of high-frequency activity associated with the epileptiform activity, and its relation to the seizure onset range. Further study of high-frequency bioelectric activity of the brain is of interest to researchers and clinicians, and may improve the EEG differential diagnosis of epilepsy.


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