Electrocorticographic distrubances after portacaval shunt in the rat: a quantitative evaluation

Electrocorticographic recordings were analyzed in two groups of Wistar rats with end-to-side portacaval shunt and sham portacaval shunt. The main electrical abnormalities observed in the shunted rats concerned slow wave sleep. Quantitative evaluation of these disturbances was made by measuring the duration of spindles normally present in this phase of sleep. Longer duration of the spindles appears to be a reliable index of electrocorticographic disorders after portacaval shunt in the rat.