Red nucleus lesions delay the evolution of amygdala kindling in cats

There are some papers which claim that the red nucleus (RN) is related to epileptic manifestations. Though the lesion or electrographic recording of the RN include many paths which assemble into it, the possibility that its cells are implicated in epilepsy is deduced. This paper compares the evolution of amygdaloid kindling in cats with bilateral RN lesions, with the epileptic disturbances provoked by lesion or stimulation of approach cells. Due to the intrinsic error of the stereotaxic method, only 7 of 13 cats show lesions in the RN with a diameter extending down to 150 micron. Only these show a shortening of the afterdischarge duration, a delay in the appearance of the consecutive clinical stages, and a lengthening in the appearance of generalized tonic-clonic seizures. In comparison, the 6 other cats show lesions mainly in the adjacent central tegmental field, and their kindling evolution was similar to that of a control group with intact mesencephalon. We conclude that the RN lesions interfere with the kindling generation, presumably by lesioning the cerebello-cerebral paths which produce a depression of cortical activity, during the consolidation of clinical and electrographic manifestations.