Spread of activity in thick cortical slices.

Slices of the hamster cerebral cortex 700-800 micron thick have been demonstrated to be viable when maintained in a bath perfused with oxygenated CSF at 30 ml/min. In such thick slices activity has been shown to spread over both hemispheres following stimulation of the corpus callosum; and seizure activity, suggestive of epilepsy, can be induced by the inclusion of penicillin, pentylinetetrazole, bicuculline or picrotoxin in the CSF.