Superior colliculus firing changes after lesion or electrical stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus in the rat
Brain Research. 2002-07-01; 943(1): 93-100
DOI: 10.1016/S0006-8993(02)02541-6
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1. Brain Res. 2002 Jul 5;943(1):93-100. doi: 10.1016/s0006-8993(02)02541-6.
Superior colliculus firing changes after lesion or electrical stimulation of the
subthalamic nucleus in the rat.
Bressand K(1), Dematteis M, Ming Gao D, Vercueil L, Louis Benabid A, Benazzouz
A.
Author information:
(1)Laboratoire de Neurobiologie Préclinique, INSERM U318, Centre Hospitalier
Universitaire, Grenoble, France.
Recent data have suggested a critical role for the basal ganglia in the remote
control of epileptic seizures. In particular, it has been shown that inhibition
of either substantia nigra pars reticulata or subthalamic nucleus as well as
activation of the superior colliculus suppresses generalized seizures in several
animal models. It was previously shown that high frequency stimulation of the
subthalamic nucleus, thought to act as functional inhibition, stopped ongoing
non-convulsive generalized seizures in rats. In order to determine whether high
frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus involved an activation of
superior colliculus neurons, we examined the effects of subthalamic nucleus
manipulation, by either high frequency stimulation or chemical lesion, on the
spontaneous electrical activity of superior colliculus neurons. Acute high
frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (frequency 130 Hz) induced an
immediate increase of unitary activity in 70% of responding cells, mainly
located within the deep layers, whereas a reduction was observed in the
remaining 30%. The latter responses are dependent on the intensity and frequency
of the stimulation. Unilateral excitotoxic lesion of the subthalamic nucleus
induced a delayed and transient decrease of superior colliculus activity. Our
data suggest that high frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus
suppresses generalised epileptic seizures through superior colliculus
activation.
DOI: 10.1016/s0006-8993(02)02541-6
PMID: 12088842 [Indexed for MEDLINE]