Thalamocortical mechanisms for spike-and-wave epileptic seizures

Abstract

Abstract This chapter focuses on thalamocortical mechanisms for spike-and-wave epileptic seizures. It discusses the genesis of paroxysmal discharges in the thalamus and how they lead to spike-and-wave seizures in the thalamocortical system. Experimental data found that seizures are generated by mechanisms that are similar to those that generate spindle oscillations. The chapter looks into the experimental results of the results of in vivo and in vitro experiments as per the context of the thalamocortical-loop framework. It explains how computational models provide an integrated view of the genesis of pathological oscillations, with the different types of synaptic receptors involved, and resolve the apparent contradictions in the interpretation of the experimental data.