Grooming reflexes and Brown-Séquard epilepsy in cats with pontile lesions

The literature on the relation between the scratch reflex and Brown-Séquard epilepsy in the guinea pig indicates that the scratch reflex is a stimulus-induced myoclonus that is the first component of a complete seizure. Cats with pontile lesions and cats with frontal neocortical lesions exhibit the scratch reflex and other grooming reflexes. The grooming reflexes in cats with pontile lesions develop over a period of a year or more into complete seizures that are similar to Brown-Séquard epilepsy as described for the guinea pig by Brown-Séquard and others. Cinematographic analyses revealed that the scratch reflex in cats with pontile lesions and in cats with frontal neocortical lesions has the same frequency and the same complex spatial and temporal pattern as normal scratching behavior. In addition, the myoclonus of the complete seizures is identified as the scratch reflex, representing a very vigorous and long-lasting afterdischarge. Reconstruction of the pontile lesions indicate that the lateral and rostral portions of the paralemniscal tegmental fields were destroyed along with portions of the pontile gray and pyramidal tract.