Recovery of susceptibility following audiogenic seizure in mice.

The rate at which SJL/J mice recover susceptibility following an initial sound-induced seizure was examined. Fewer than 15% of the subjects seized when retested after a 2-min delay, and only 50% reseized after a 10-min delay. The likelihood of a second seizure was enhanced if the initial seizure exhibited a rapid progression to clonus. During the retest, seizures progressed more slowly than during the initial test, which indicates that recovery was not complete even if a second seizure was induced. Finally, recovery of seizure susceptibility was prevented as long as the subject continued to be exposed to intense auditory stimulation following the initial convulsion, an effect previously noted by Alexander and Kopeloff (1980). The findings are discussed in terms of a recently proposed central inhibitory model of the recovery of audiogenic seizure susceptibility.     

Independence of uniphasic and biphasic audiogenic seizure progressions in mice

DBA/2J mice were monaurally or binaurally tested for susceptibility to sound-induced seizure. Two seconds following the beginning of running, one group of binaurally tested mice had acoustic stimulation interrupted for 15 s. These mice later seized when the stimulation was readministered. Their seizure progression closely resembled the behavior exhibited by noninterrupted binaurally stimulated mice and did not shift to the biphasic motor pattern of monaurally stimulated subjects. We conclude that the single burst of running of a binaurally tested mouse is qualitatively different from either of the two bursts of running exhibited by monaurally tested mice.     

Effect of contralateral shock stimulation on laterality differences in the two shock threshold

Contralaterally presented shock was found to bring about marked changes in two shock threshold determined for the right finger but not for the left finger. The results are discussed in terms of a suggestion that the level of excitability of the left hemisphere may be more easily disturbed than that of the right hemisphere.