Changes in somatosensory evoked potentials following forebrain ischemia in the gerbils: effects of felbamate

Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) as well as change following transient cerebral ischemia in the gerbil were characterized in this study. SEPs were measured in each gerbil before ischemia (day -1), during ischemia, 10 min, 2, 4, 8, 24, 48 h and 8 days after recirculation. During bilateral carotid occlusion, SEP amplitude was dramatically reduced and central conduction time was significantly increased. During recirculation these values showed an improvement when compared to ischemic but not to control values. Moreover at 8 days of recirculation they were still statistically different from control values. Felbamate administration at the dose of 150 mg kg(-1), immediately after recirculation was shown to ameliorate neurophysiological recovery following cerebral ischemia.