[Intracortical electrogenesis: spontaneous activity, sleep and epileptic seizure (author's transl)]

Various electrical activities were recorded in rabbits from within the cortex by means of a multielectrode carrying, on a glass needle, 8 Ag-AgCl contacts (50X50 micronm) at 300 micronm distances. The records were stored on tape and analyzed (power spectrum, coherence and phase). Generally, the relatively uniform pattern of the cortical surface is paralleled by a spatio-temporally very complex intracortical activity. In all activities a zone of minimum activity ("zero zone") was found between roughly 500 and 800 micronm below surface. Beyond this zone, activities often appear like a mirrorimage of the surface activities although true phase-reversals never occur. In spontaneous activities this zone remains constant, during seizures it may shift and broaden. The maximum power is usually found below this zone. The transcortical power profile often changes during seizures. Tonic patterns, although fairly uniform in the ECoG from the surface of the cortex, turn out to be composed of several components when studied intracortically. The "generator zones" of the various intracortically identifiable graphoelements have various vertical position and extension. These findings demonstrate that a certain neuronal circuitry may be responsible for the shape of the potential recorded. This circuitry is far from rigid but may change in different stages of synchronization. For a better spatio-temporal resolution of intracortical activities, the interelectrode distance has still to be reduced.