The effects of cerebellectomy on a penicillin epileptogenic focus in the cerebral cortex of the rat.
(1) Total removal of the cerebellum from the rat anaesthetised with urethane was found to increase the duration of epileptiform foci produced by injection of 25 U of Penicillin into the cerebral cortex. (2) This was not due to reduction in blood pressure nor to non-specific brain damage resulting from the cerebellectomy. (3) The effects of total cerebellectomy are not due to the removal of the inhibitory influence of the Purkinje cells on the intracerebellar nuclei, which from part of an excitatory cortico-cortical circuit. (4) The underlying mechanism is obscure, but it is possible that the cerebellum produces some inhibitory tone, which decreases the lifetime of penicillin foci.
D000818:Animals; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000502:physiology / Q000601:surgery*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000187:drug effects; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D010406:Penicillins / Q000494:pharmacology; D011689:Purkinje Cells / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D012640:Seizures / Q000139:chemically induced*; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000187:drug effects; D013997:Time Factors; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000187:drug effects
D010406:Penicillins