Abstrakt: |
The effects of ketamine, an antagonist of NMDA receptors, on the neuronal epileptiform responses evoked by applications of strychnine, penicillin, or bicuculline to the suprasylvian gyrus were studied in cats. Ketamine either exerted no effect, or slightly decreased interictal high-amplitude depolarizing shifts of the membrane potential and depolarizing afterpotentials, which appeared spontaneously or were evoked by intracortical stimulation. Repetitive electrical stimulation of the epileptogenic cortical regions resulted in the appearance of autogenerated ictal activity lasting up to several tens of seconds; this activity was produced against the background of a depolarization of neuronal membranes. After ketamine injections, such stimulations evoked no ictal activity in the neurons, or the discharges became much shorter. The results of our study show that the NMDA-dependent postsynaptic components play a more important role in the development of neocortical ictal activity compared with the interictal activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |