Abstract:
The cholinergic mechanisms role determination in epileptogenesis attracts the attention
of researchers. Pilocarpine administration in rats contributes to chronic form of epileptiform
activity development characterized by the presence of a pronounced acute stage and an
interictal period - free from behavioral convulsive reactions. We consider the most important
feature of the pilocarpine-induced seizures interictal period might be the change of various
forms of nonconvulsive behavior. Attempts to investigate the animals’ behavioral reactions
details during the seizure-free interictal period, as well as to determine the mechanisms of
similar types of behavior formation, are interesting. The purpose of the work is to investigate the motor, stereotypic and aggressive-defensive behavior of rats throughout the interictal
period of pilocarpine-induced convulsive syndrome with a frontal cortex functional activity
change. It was found that the severity of non-convulsive behavioral reactions in the interictal
period during pilocarpine-induced chronic seizures is mostly determined by the frontal cortex
functional state. At the same time, the frontal cortex hyperactivation is an important feature of
pilocarpine-induced chronic epileptogenesis. The authors proved that when the frontal cortex
is activated in rats, there is an increase in horizontal and vertical motor activity, as well as the
expressiveness of emotional reactions in the “open field” test and the strengthening of the
aggressive-defensive behavior. In conditions of this part of the cortex selective destruction the
opposite behavioral effects are noted which confirms the important role of the frontal cortex in
the interictal non-convulsive behavior formation. Observed behavioral effects during the
frontal cortex functional activity modulation, according to the authors, indicate the
reasonability of regulatory influences searching aiming forward this brain part to activate
complex mechanisms aimed to pilocarpine-induced chronic epileptiform activity elimination.
