Age-Related ECoG Dynamics of and Convulsive Activity of Wistar Rats in a Cortical Model of Focal Epilepsy

The age-related dynamics of the ECoG and convulsive epileptiform activity induced by intracortical microinjections of 4-aminopyridine were studied in three groups of Wistar rats at ages corresponding to childhood (P20-30), adolescence (P30–45), and adulthood (P90–P120). With aging, ECoG spectral power was found to increase during waking and “sleep spindles” and to decrease during slow-wave sleep. Rats of adolescent age also showed statistically significant differences in measures of convulsive activity – mean frequency of peak-wave complexes – and the latent period of occurrence of epileptiform activity was greater than in childhood and adulthood. In addition, the total duration of epileptiform activity in rats of adolescent age was significantly lower than that in adult rats and rats at age P20–P30. The nervous system during the adolescent period may have specific protective mechanisms decreasing the intensity of convulsive activity (the ability to generate and propagate spike-wave activity), increasing resistance to epileptogen. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.