title: Evaluation of the electroencephalogram in young cats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To characterize the electroencephalogram (EEG) in young cats.
  
  
  METHODS
  23 clinically normal cats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cats were sedated with medetomidine hydrochloride and butorphanol tartrate at 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24 weeks of age, and an EEG was recorded at each time point. Recordings were visually inspected for electrical continuity, interhemispheric synchrony, amplitude and frequency of background electrical activity, and frequency of transient activity. Computer-aided analysis was used to perform frequency spectral analysis and to calculate absolute and relative power of the background activity at each age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Electrical continuity was evident in cats ≥ 4 weeks old, and interhemispheric synchrony was evident in cats at all ages evaluated. Analysis of amplitude of background activity and absolute power revealed significant elevations in 6-week-old cats, compared with results for 2-, 20-, and 24-week-old cats. No association between age and relative power or frequency was identified. Transient activity, which consisted of sleep spindles and K complexes, was evident at all ages, but spike and spike-and-wave discharges were observed in cats at 2 weeks of age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Medetomidine and butorphanol were administered in accordance with a sedation protocol that allowed investigators to repeatedly obtain EEG data from cats. Age was an important consideration when interpreting EEG data. These data on EEG development in clinically normal cats may be used for comparison in future studies conducted to examine EEGs in young cats with diseases that affect the cerebral cortex.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Studies-Philadelphia, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Melissa J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: D Colette
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Charles H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Vite
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000758:Anesthesia / Q000662:veterinary*; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D002077:Butorphanol / Q000494:pharmacology; D002415:Cats; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D020926:Medetomidine / Q000494:pharmacology; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D020926:Medetomidine; D002077:Butorphanol