Unilateral lesion of the subthalamic nucleus enhances cortical fos expression associated with focally evoked seizures in the rat

Brain Res. 2006 Jul 26;1101(1):145-50. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2006.05.025. Epub 2006 Jun 19.

Abstract

Reducing subthalamic nucleus (STN) activity has been proposed as an anti-epileptic procedure. Here we show that, on the contrary, a unilateral lesion of the STN causes slight (nonsignificant) increases in the severity of limbic seizures evoked by bicuculline infusion into the piriform cortex, associated with marked Fos expression throughout the cerebral cortex. Abolishing the STN control over the basal ganglia output may therefore play a facilitatory role on cortical activation associated with limbic seizures.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bicuculline / toxicity
  • Cerebral Cortex / metabolism*
  • Cerebral Cortex / physiopathology
  • Convulsants / toxicity
  • Gene Expression Regulation / drug effects
  • Immunohistochemistry / methods
  • Male
  • N-Methylaspartate / toxicity
  • Oncogene Proteins v-fos / metabolism*
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Seizures / chemically induced
  • Seizures / metabolism*
  • Seizures / pathology
  • Subthalamic Nucleus / drug effects
  • Subthalamic Nucleus / injuries
  • Subthalamic Nucleus / pathology
  • Subthalamic Nucleus / physiopathology*

Substances

  • Convulsants
  • Oncogene Proteins v-fos
  • N-Methylaspartate
  • Bicuculline