One hertz stimulation to the corpus callosum quenches seizure development and attenuates motor map expansion

Low-frequency stimulation applied through indwelling electrodes has been used to depress or depotentiate synaptic efficacy. Moreover it has been reported to inhibit seizure expression and progression when started either during or after seizures. We have recently shown that low-frequency stimulation can also reduce the size of seizure-enlarged movement representations (motor maps) when delivered after 30 afterdischarges that had propagated from the hippocampus to the neocortex. This study was designed to examine the effects of low-frequency stimulation delivered to the corpus callosum on motor map topography when applied during or after each elicited seizure. Specifically, 15 min of 1 Hz stimulation was applied to the corpus callosum either concurrent with or immediately following a neocortical afterdischarge that had propagated from the hippocampus. Long-Evans hooded rats were electrically stimulated twice daily in the right ventral hippocampus until the first neocortical afterdischarge was elicited. Rats then received low-frequency stimulation which began either with the afterdischarge or following each afterdischarge for 20 additional kindling sessions; a sham low-frequency stimulation group was also included. Afterdischarges were recorded from both hippocampal and neocortical sites, and seizure expression was documented. One to six days following the last stimulation session, forelimb movement representations were derived using high-resolution intracortical microstimulation in the left sensorimotor neocortex. Low-frequency stimulation following each kindled seizure, suppressed behavioral seizure severity and hippocampal afterdischarge duration, as well as attenuated kindling-induced motor map expansion.