Electrobehavioral characteristics of epileptic rats following photothrombotic brain infarction.

The goal of this study was to characterize the electroencephalographic (EEG) and behavioral properties of young adult rats during extended video-EEG monitoring following photothrombotic brain infarction. Two-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent photothrombotic brain infarction of the left sensorimotor cortex with the photosensitive dye rose bengal (n=10) or were used as controls (n=9). Qualitative and quantitative EEG analysis was performed on digital video-EEG records obtained during 6 months of recording. The main finding of this study was that 5/10 (50%) lesioned animals developed focal epileptic seizures ipsilateral to the cortical infarct characterized by rhythmic spike-wave discharges with or without behavioral change. Epileptic animals demonstrated increased delta, theta, and low beta-range power ipsilateral to the infarct that reliably distinguished them from lesioned nonepileptic and control animals. Lesioned animals (epileptic and nonepileptic) also demonstrated a distinct pattern of focal rhythmic theta activity before or after generalized high beta-range discharges. Electrical and behavioral characteristics common to both lesioned and control animals included: (1) focal rhythmic theta activity in either hemisphere; (2) focal low beta-range discharges in either hemisphere; (3) generalized high beta-range discharges; (4) absence seizures; (5) generalized pseudoperiodic spike discharges associated with mild multifocal body jerks; (6) tonic-clonic seizures (one nai;ve control; one lesioned animal). Cresyl violet staining of lesioned animals' brains showed consistent infarcts of the sensorimotor cortex extending to the subcortical white matter. These results provide an expanded electrobehavioral description of young adult rats following photothrombotic brain infarction and augment further investigation into the molecular, cellular, and network alterations that contribute to the establishment of post-stroke epilepsy.