In rats, seizures porduced by chronic stimulation (Kindling) of amygdaloid complex or other nuclei were studied. A. Kindling and heart rate changes: Arrythimia of the heart rate was noted with kindled seizures. However, the kindled seizures after paralyzing rats with a muscle relaxant (Flaxedil) did not produce the heart rate change. The results suggested that not only the central but also the peripheral mechanism (intact chest cage) might be associated with irregularity of heart rate. B. Seizure patterns produced by caudate and globus pallidus kindlings: No significant difference existed between the caudate and the globus pallidus animals in kindling rate, but they were somewhat different from and required twice as many stimulations as the amygdala rats. Seizures in the globus pallidus rats consisted of initial rotation toward the stimulated side, then after righting, chewing, forelimb clonus, rearing and falling. The caudate seizure started with initial opisthotonic posturing, then maintaining the posture, chewing and forelimb clonus. The results suggested that these nuclei were mostly a relay station for seizure propagation. C. Effects of neonatal hypoxia or kindling in early adulthood: There was no significant difference in kindling spread and length of afterdischarges between control rats andf those exposed to hypoxia. The significance of the experiments lies in the fact that seizures produced by kindling are a good model for human epilepsy and that the further understanding of kindled seizures will in turn elucidate the mechanism of human epilepsy.
