High-frequency EEG oscillations in hyperthermia-induced seizures of Scn1a mutant rats

We examined high-frequency oscillations (HFOs) in the ictal cortical EEGs of hyperthermia-induced seizures in a rat model of febrile seizures with an SCN1A mutation as a means of investigating the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the generation of febrile seizures. We used 13 male homozygous Scn1a-N1417H mutant rats (F344/NSlc-Scn1a(Kyo811)) and 10 wild-type control rats. Generalized tonic-clonic seizures were induced in all mutant rats, and HFOs with frequencies ranging from 200 to 400 Hz were found to precede spikes during the clonic phases of these seizures in the ictal EEGs. The proportion of all spikes in each seizure that were associated with HFOs increased with age. In time-frequency spectra of the EEG data, the HFOs had a mean peak frequency of 301.1 ± 65.4 Hz (range: 156.3-468.8Hz) and a mean peak power of 24.6 ± 3.8 dB (range: 11.4-33.4 dB); the peak power increased with age. Regarding the wild-type rats, a brief seizure without unmistakable HFOs was exceptionally induced in only one rat. The generation mechanism of febrile seizures is still an unanswered question. The detection of HFOs from the ictal EEGs of hyperthermia-induced seizures may provide a cue to answering this open question, although in this research we were unable to provide sufficient evidence to prove that the generation of HFOs depended on the mutation.