Kindling, one of the most used models of experimental epilepsy is based on daily electrical stimulation in several brain structures. Unlike the classic or slow kindling protocols (SK), the rapid kindling types (RK) described until now require continuous stimulation at suprathreshold intensities applied directly to the same brain structure used for subsequent electrophysiological and immunohistochemical studies, usually the hippocampus. However, the cellular changes observed in these rapid protocols, such as astrogliosis and neuronal loss, could be due to experimental manipulation more than to epileptogenesis-related alterations. Here, we developed a new RK protocol in order to generate an improved model of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) which allows gradual progression of the epilepsy as well as obtaining an epileptic hippocampus, thus avoiding direct surgical manipulation and electric stimulation over this structure. This new protocol consists of basolateral amygdala (BLA) stimulation with 10 trains of biphasic pulses (10 s; 50 Hz) per day with 20 min-intervals, during 3 consecutive days, using a subconvulsive and subthreshold intensity, which guarantees tissue integrity. The progression of epileptic activity was evaluated in freely moving rats through electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings from cortex and amygdala, accompanied with synchronized video recordings. Moreover, we assessed the effectiveness of RK protocol and the establishment of epilepsy by evaluating cellular alterations of hippocampal slices from kindled rats. RK protocol induced convulsive states similar to SK protocols but in 3 days, with persistently lowered threshold to seizure induction and epileptogenic-dependent cellular changes in amygdala projection areas. We concluded that this novel RK protocol introduces a new variant of the chronic epileptogenesis models in freely moving rats, which is faster, highly reproducible and causes minimum cell damage with respect to that observed in other experimental models of epilepsy.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4107828 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2014.00200 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Miniscope Imaging of Nucleus Accumbens Neural Activity in Freely Behaving Rats: Virus Injection, Gradient Index Lens Implantation, Recording Strategies, and Analytical Methods.
Curr Protoc
January 2025
Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, Maryland.
In vivo calcium imaging in freely moving rats using miniscopes provides valuable information about the neural mechanisms of behavior in real time. A gradient index (GRIN) lens can be implanted in deep brain structures to relay activity from single neurons. While such procedures have been successful in mice, few reports provide detailed procedures for successful surgery and long-term imaging in rats, which are better suited for studying complex human behaviors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA Self-Supporting Flexible Electrode for Tracking and Reversible Quantification of Mg2+ and Ca2+ in the Brains of Freely Behaving Animal.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl
January 2025
East China Normal University, Dept. of Chemistry, Dongchuan Road 500, 200062, Shanghai, CHINA.
Monitoring dynamic neurochemical signals in the brain of free-moving animals remains great challenging in biocompatibility and direct implantation capability of current electrodes. Here we created a self-supporting polymer-based flexible microelectrode (rGPF) with sufficient bending stiffness for direct brain implantation without extra devices, but demonstrating low Young's modulus with remarkable biocompatibility and minimal position shifts. Meanwhile, screening by density functional theory (DFT) calculation, we designed and synthesized specific ligands targeting Mg2+ and Ca2+, and constructed Mg-E and Ca-E sensors with high selectivity, good reversibility, and fast response time, successfully monitoring Mg2+ and Ca2+ in vivo up to 90 days.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuroethology of natural actions in freely moving monkeys.
Science
January 2025
Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
The current understanding of primate natural action organization derives from laboratory experiments in restrained contexts (RCs) under the assumption that this knowledge generalizes to freely moving contexts (FMCs). In this work, we developed a neurobehavioral platform to enable wireless recording of the same premotor neurons in both RCs and FMCs. Neurons often encoded the same hand and mouth actions differently in RCs and FMCs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuroCarto: A Toolkit for Building Custom Read-out Channel Maps for High Electrode-count Neural Probes.
Neuroinformatics
January 2025
Neuro Electronics Res. Flanders (NERF), Heverlee, 3001, Belgium.
Neuropixels probes contain thousands of electrodes across one or more shanks and are sufficiently small to allow chronic recording of neural activity in freely behaving small animals. However, the joint increase in the number of electrodes and miniaturization of the probe package has led to a compromise in which groups of electrodes share a single read-out channel and only a fraction of the electrodes can be read out at any given time. Experimenters then face the challenge of selecting a subset of electrodes (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGalaxy as a gateway to bioinformatics: Multi-Interface Galaxy Hands-on Training Suite (MIGHTS) for scRNA-seq.
Gigascience
January 2025
School of Life, Health & Chemical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK7 6AA, UK.
Background: Bioinformatics is fundamental to biomedical sciences, but its mastery presents a steep learning curve for bench biologists and clinicians. Learning to code while analyzing data is difficult. The curve may be flattened by separating these two aspects and providing intermediate steps for budding bioinformaticians.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!