KINDLING ANTAGONISM - MAPPING OF SUSCEPTIBLE SITES

Previous research has shown that concurrent alternating stimulation of paired limbic sites culminates in kindling of generalized seizures fr om 1 (dominant) site, whereas the other (suppressed) site supports onl y focal or partial seizures. This phenomenon has been referred to as k indling antagonism, and it has been proposed that antagonism reflects an arrest of kindling, which is therefore viewed as a non-continuous s tepwise process. We have attempted to replicate these important observ ations in adult rats stimulated in various combinations of forebrain s ites. Kindling antagonism was displayed by rats stimulated in the amyg dala and the septal area, in the bilateral amygdala, the septal area a nd the splenium of the corpus callosum, and the amygdala and the cingu late cortex. We also found that antagonism between the amygdala and se ptal area as well as electrographic and behavioral correlates of alter nating stimulation were sensitive to the hemispheric relation of the e lectrodes and to the order in which the sites received initial stimula tions. That is, rats that carried ipsilateral amygdaloid and septal el ectrodes were less likely to display antagonism when the amygdala was the first site stimulated. On the other hand, we failed to obtain anta gonism from rats stimulated in other limbic pairs (e.g. entorhinal cor tex and septal area).