Movement epilepsy in the monkey with an experimental motor focus
Lamarche, M.; Chauvel, P.
Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology. Suppl 34: 323-328
1978
ISSN/ISBN: 0424-8155 PMID: 108078 Document Number: 133474
In the monkey with an alumina focus in the primary motor area, proprioceptive afferents are crucial in triggering or modulating seizures. The reversible exclusion of these afferents by curarization results, depending on the level of activity of the focus, either in regularization of spontaneous seizure frequency and duration (recorded from the cortex), or in their subtotal suppression. In the last case, muscular stimulation is still able to elicit seizures. The triggering modality is highly specific: if it is possible to induce seizures with acoustic or cutaneous stimuli in normal conditions, this is no longer possible under curare. It may then be assumed that exteroceptive stimulation is effective through the startle reaction or flexion reflex that they elicit; in other words, the actual trigger would take origin in the indirect involvement of proprioceptive afferents. Physiological mechanisms and relations with human clinical features are discussed.