Cortical and rhinencephalic electrical potentials during hypoglycemia.

Abstract

Observations on EEG changes during insulin hypoglycemia were initiated by Hoagland et al., 1 who noted the disappearance of alpha waves in schizophrenics subjected to insulin hypoglycemic treatment. Himwich and associates 2 found that the disappearance of the alpha waves occurred at the time the patient loses environmental contact. In a series of observations on dogs, Hoagland and co-workers 3 reported that subcortical waves continued after the cortical undulations had disappeared. Differences between cortical and subcortical electrical activity in hypoglycemic rabbits have also been disclosed in the work of Tokizane and Sawyer, 4 who observed seizure patterns in subcortical areas, i. e., amygdala and hippocampus, when the cortical recordings were devoid of such hyperactivity. Further analysis of the differential cortical and subcortical electrical potentials of cats made by Fernandez and Brenman 5 revealed that the auditory cortex retained the evoked response to the click stimulus even in very pronounced hypoglycemia,