KINDLING OF MOTOR SEIZURES FROM THE BED NUCLEUS OF THE STRIA TERMINALIS

Intermittent application of localized electrical stimulation to certain regions of the brain results in the development of generalized seizures (kindling effect); of all those regions the limbic system, and particularly the amygdala, is highly susceptible to this phenomenon. The kindling rate for different regions of the limbic system seems to be related to the extent of their anatomic connections with the amygdala. The present report deals with the kindling susceptibility of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST), a structure which has substantial direct connections with the amygdala and which has never been tested for this purpose. The BST was found to be among the structures having the highest susceptibility to kindling, just after the amygdala. Kindling of the BST was very similar to that in the amygdala but it did not result from an indirect activation of this last structure because we demonstrated that bilateral amygdalectomy did not prevent its development nor modify its expression. Several fiber tracts such as the stria terminalis and the anterior commissure surround or traverse the BST. We confirmed that motor seizures developed more rapidly when these fibers, rather than either the BST or the amygdala itself, were stimulated. © 1979.