title: Superior colliculus firing changes after lesion or electrical stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus in the rat.
abstract: Recent data have suggested a critical role for the basal ganglia in the remote control of epileptic seizures. In particular, it has been shown that inhibition of either substantia nigra pars reticulata or subthalamic nucleus as well as activation of the superior colliculus suppresses generalized seizures in several animal models. It was previously shown that high frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus, thought to act as functional inhibition, stopped ongoing non-convulsive generalized seizures in rats. In order to determine whether high frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus involved an activation of superior colliculus neurons, we examined the effects of subthalamic nucleus manipulation, by either high frequency stimulation or chemical lesion, on the spontaneous electrical activity of superior colliculus neurons. Acute high frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (frequency 130 Hz) induced an immediate increase of unitary activity in 70% of responding cells, mainly located within the deep layers, whereas a reduction was observed in the remaining 30%. The latter responses are dependent on the intensity and frequency of the stimulation. Unilateral excitotoxic lesion of the subthalamic nucleus induced a delayed and transient decrease of superior colliculus activity. Our data suggest that high frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus suppresses generalised epileptic seizures through superior colliculus activation.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Neurobiologie Préclinique, INSERM U318, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Grenoble, France. bressand@broca.inserm.fr
authors.forename: Karine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bressand
authors.forename: Maurice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dematteis
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ming Gao
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vercueil
authors.forename: Alim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Louis Benabid
authors.forename: Abdelhamid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Benazzouz
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D007608:Kainic Acid / Q000633:toxicity; D008297:Male; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000187:drug effects; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques; D020531:Subthalamic Nucleus / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D013477:Superior Colliculi / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D007608:Kainic Acid