Propagation of spontaneous synchronized activity in cortical slice cultures recorded by planar electrode arrays.

The spatial propagation of synchronized activity in cortical slice cultures was characterized by multi-site extracellular recording. Spontaneous activity was studied in normal culture medium, and in bicuculline- or kainic acid-containing media. A common feature in all these conditions was that activity was generated first in superficial layers (i.e., layer I/II) before spreading over the whole area of the slice. In culture medium or bicuculline-containing medium, the initiation site of the activity was not constant and showed a large variety of patterns of horizontal propagation. Kainic acid induced epileptiform activity, consisting of intense initial bursts followed by repetitive after-discharges. Though the patterns of spatial propagation of the bursts were variable as in the other conditions, the after-discharges followed a constant path. Cross-correlation analysis indicated that the network moved in a graded fashion to a steady state during the sequence of after-discharges.