A study of spontaneous and evoked activity in the rat hippocampus under helium-oxygen high pressure.

High pressures affect the physiology of the central nervous system. For a better understanding of this effect, we examined the hippocampal activity in the rat under high pressures (91 bars) of helium-oxygen. Effects of high pressure on hippocampal physiology are: an abnormally sustained 5-8 Hz pattern of spontaneous activity, followed, in some cases, by seizures; a marked decrease in the responses of CA1 pyramidal cells to stimulation of their commissural afferents; and a 50% decrease in the afterdischarge threshold. On the basis of the relatively well understood hippocampal physiology in normobaric conditions, our observations suggest that high pressures induce hypoexcitability of afferents and/or target cells.