Epileptic after-discharges induced by hippocampal stimulation in rats

Among the experimental models of epileptic seizures there is a lack of an adequate model of partial seizures with complex symptomatology. This is due to the fact that the disturbance of consciousness is the main symptom of this type of human seizures, whereas motor signs appear only as epileptic automatisms. Therefore, experimental epileptology focuses its attention on electrophysiological phenomena connected with these fits. The commonly used model is an after-discharge (AD), induced by electrical stimulation of the hippocampus. Its electrographic pattern resembles phenomena recorded by means of deep electrodes in human temporal seizures (Kreindler 1965).