Suppression of an eplieptiform type of electrocortical activity in the rat by stimulation in the vicinity of locus coeruleus.

Stimulation of the locus coeruleus, or in the vicinity of this nucleus or of its ascending tracts, could markedly suppress the appearance of epileptiform-like ECoG bursts. The latter were induced in rats by a subconvulsive dose of pentylenetetrazol. Electrode sites were identified histologically. A unilateral stimulus suppressed bursts bilaterally. An individual burst already in progress could be aborted, stopping within less than 0.5-1 sec after onset of a stimulus train. The antiepileptiform actions occurred with no evidence of any desynchronizing effect of the stimulus on the resting ECoG; they appear to be different in sites of origin and nature from those reported for stimulation of the reticular activating system. It is proposed that stimulation of the ascending noradrenergic system in the brain stem may limit the development and spread of hyperexcitatory, epileptiform states.