[Transcranial electroanalgesia in rats: an optimal regimen of electrical stimuli]

According to earlier experimental results in rabbits the maximal analgesic effect in rats as determined by vocalization test was elicited by transcranial application of combination of direct current and rectangular pulses (70 Hz, 3.0-3.5 ms) with optimal ratio of amplitudes of direct and mean pulse currents being about 2:1. In anesthetized rats during the transcranial application of the current with parameters optimal for analgesia the most prominent inhibition of the nociceptive blood pressure reflexes were also shown. The similar results obtained in different species of animals confirmed our earlier conclusion that the most pronounced transcranial analgesia may be elicited by the narrow band current parameters only. Directions of further investigation on the electroanalgesia mechanisms using transcranial current application in rats as an experimental model are discussed.