KINDLING IN SENSORY SYSTEMS - THALAMUS

The kindling response of a number of thalamic (lateral and medial geniculate nuclei, posterior and lateral posterior nuclei) and midbrain (superior colliculus, reticular formation) sensory structures was assessed using a standard kindling paradigm in the rat, with repetition of the electrical stimulation once daily for between 100 and 200 days. This was compared with the kindling response of the hippocampus and dentate gyrus. Between 31 and 44% of animals with thalamic sensory placements developed generalized convulsions, whereas none with midbrain placements did so. The convulsions shared many of the basic properties of olfactory-limbic convulsions, but differed in various details, suggesting that a different neural mechanism was involved and that the thalamic sensory convulsions did not result from the spread of current to limbic structures. Primary sensory structures in rat brain can be kindled.