Are there physiological and pathological convulsive thresholds in brain?

Objective To investigate changes that occur in the brain when the physiological convulsive threshold becomes pathological,and to determine what differences occur in pathological and physiological convulsive thresholds during the development of epilepsy. Methods In this study,the threshold for convulsions was determined by direct cortical stimulation in rats.The convulsive threshold was measured while recording electroencephalograms and subsequently examining histopathological changes in the hippocampus. Results At the beginning of the experiment,convulsive thresholds were all above 1 100 μA although there were significant individual variations in rats of the same group.But those thresholds quickly declined during the initial 4 weeks of repetitive electrical stimulation.The convulsive thresholds approached a constant level[TLS(430±34)μA,TGS(480±46)μA,TPS(605±70)μA]in the 10th week.There were no significant changes in thresholds when stimulation lasted for longer,the convulsive thresholds and the variations in rats of the same group were significantly lower than that at the beginning of the trial(P<0.01).An interictal discharge was also recorded in the 3rd week in heavy current group and at the 8th week in weak current group respectively which were concomitant with the neuronal da-mage and loss in the hippocampus.There was no abnormality observed in control group. Conclusion These findings indicate that the convulsion threshold in the brain should be divided into two stages:physiological convulsive threshold and pathological convulsive threshold(epileptic threshold).Epileptic threshold is created by pathological acquired factors which give rise to brain damage.The intensity of these pathological acquired factors is correlated with the formation of the pathological convulsive threshold.