The Effects of Electrical Stimulation of the Paleocerebellar Cortex on Penicillin-Induced Convulsive Activity in Rats

Abstract

Studies in Wistar rats in conditions of free behavior showed that low-frequency stimulation of the paleocerebellar cortex (nodulus, uvula) (10-12 Hz, 0.5 msec) was accompanied by activation of spike discharges induced by systematic application of benzylpenicillin sodium (3,000,000 IU/kg). Facilitation of the formation of ictal discharges was also seen. High-frequency electrical stimulation (100-300 Hz, 0.25 msec) of the same structure was accompanied by suppression of the generation of spike potentials and prevented the development of ictal potentials. The antiepileptic effect of electrical stimulation was seen in conditions of relatively low levels of convulsive activity. Electrical stimulation decreased the frequency and amplitude of spike potentials in the interstimulus intervals and decreased the total duration of epileptic foci. Repeated electrical stimulation of the paleocerebellum after electrocoagulation did not produce any changes in convulsive activity.

Cerebellar stimulation in the management of medically intractable epilepsy: a systematic and critical review

“…Numerous animal studies have demonstrated that electrical stimulation of the cerebellum may abort electrically or chemically induced seizures and drastically alter the electrophysiological profile of the neuronal tissue in vitro and in vivo. 1,2,5,8,[13][14][15]19,21,22,26,28,30,35,38,39,41,42,48,49,52,53 However, there are several issues that remain to be resolved and important questions that need to be answered.…”

“…18,54,55,60 It seems that there is a consensus regarding the charge density and the low-frequency stimulation used in human studies. 19,55,56,61 A significant confounding factor in the evaluation of the CS studies in humans is the inclusion of patients with epilepsy of various origins and different seizure patterns. [8][9][10][11]18,34,54,55,60 It is very unlikely that medically intractable epilepsy secondary to dysplastic changes and epilepsy due to the presence of vascular pathological features would respond to CS of standard parameters.…”

“…Likewise, Hablitz 21 and Myers et al 43 found that CS had no effect on seizure activity in their penicillin-induced seizure models. Godlevskii et al, 19 using a penicillin-induced seizure model, found that cortical stimulation of the paleocerebellum resulted in a decreased amount of interictal spikes, but had no effect on actual seizure activity. In addition, Brown et al, 5,13 working on a monkey seizure model in which electrical cortical stimulation was used to abort seizures, performed light and electron microscopic examinations of cerebellum specimens obtained in the experimental animals.…”

Deep Brain Stimulation for Epilepsy

“…Of note, stimulation parameters were not standardized in these experiments. A recent publication supports the antiepileptic effect of high frequency (100–300 Hz) paleocerebellar stimulation in rats treated with benzylpenecillin sodium; an effect that was exacerbated using low‐frequency (10–12 Hz) stimulation (22). The relatively few new animal studies published over the last decade indicate that interest in cerebellar stimulation for epilepsy is fading (see Myers et al.…”

Deep brain stimulation for epilepsy

“…Stimulation of the paramedian lobule at 300 Hz (Cooke and Snider, 1955;Iwata and Snider, 1959), and also the fastigial deep nucleus, inhibited electrically induced seizures in cortex and hippocampus. Benefits of cerebellar stimulation depended upon the frequency of stimulation (Godlevskii et al, 2004): stimulation of the nodulus at about 10 Hz in rats increased epileptiform discharges, whereas 100-300 Hz decreased discharges. Several subsequent animal studies showed favorable effects of surface or deep cerebellar stimulation on inhibiting seizures in animal models (Dow et al, 1962;Hutton et al, 1972;Babb et al, 1974;Strain et al, 1978).…”