Summary
The role of the reticular thalamic nucleus (RTN) in pacing rhythmic cortical activities subserving spike-waves (SW) discharges has been investigated in rats.
Intracellular recordings from thalamic slices in vitro demonstrated that RTN neurons from control animals possess a set of Ca2+/K+ membrane conductances which enable them to produce rhythmic oscillatory activities.
In vivo, studies of Ca2+-conductance blockade by intrathalamic injections of Cd2+ were performed on 24 callosotomized Wistar rats displaying spontaneous SW discharges, bred at the Centre de Neurochimie, Strasbourg. A significant decrement in ipsilateral SW activity was consistently observed in all RTN-injected animals 40 min after Cd2+ injection. By contrast, animals which received Cd2+ injection into the ventroposterior complex (VP) showed only small changes in ipsilateral SW. It is concluded that Ca2+-dependent oscillatory properties of the RTN are critical for the expression of genetically determined SW discharges in the Wistar model.
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Avanzini, G., de Curtis, M., Marescaux, C., Panzica, F., Spreafico, R., Vergnes, M. (1992). Role of the thalamic reticular nucleus in the generation of rhythmic thalamo-cortical activities subserving spike and waves. In: Marescaux, C., Vergnes, M., Bernasconi, R. (eds) Generalized Non-Convulsive Epilepsy: Focus on GABA-B Receptors. Journal of Neural Transmission, vol 35. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-9206-1_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-9206-1_6
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