Neuronal activity in the parietal cortex of EL and DDY mice

To elucidate the mechanism of epileptogenesis, seizures were investigated in the EL mouse, which is an excellent model for epilepsy. In these mice, epileptic seizures initiate in the parietal cortex, where markers of GABA-mediated inhibition are reduced compared with the parietal cortex of DDY mice (the parent strain). This is the first report on units of neuronal activity in the parietal cortex of EL and DDY mice (14 each) using an extracellular microelectrode in vivo under moderate pentobarbital anesthesia. The parietal cortex neurons of the EL mice were less active at rest than those of the DDY mice, but they responded more actively to proprioceptive afferent input from muscle stimulation than the DDY neurons. Three types of spontaneous firing were classified in both EL and DDY cortical neurons: periodically firing, Type A; continuously firing, Type B; and random firing, Type C. The proportions of these three types of neurons were almost the same in the EL mice as in the DDY mice. The peak frequency of the periodical cycle of Type A neurons in the EL mice (375 ms) was longer than that of the Type A neurons in the DDY mice (225 ms). Four patterns of responses to stimulation were observed in the parietal cortex neurons. More excitatory patterns were observed in the EL mice than in the DDY mice. The trans-laminar distribution of cells with different response patterns was also different between the EL and DDY mice. These characteristics of parietal cortex neurons may help determine the seizure susceptibility or ictogenesis in EL mice because the mechanisms underlying these patterns could provide the basis for hypersynchronized discharges in epileptic seizures.