Effect of Macular and Peripheral Retina Coagulation on Photosensitive Epilepsy in the Forebrain Bisected Baboon, Papio Papio

Abstract

The effects of macular and peripheral retina coagulation were examined in photosensitive baboons, Papio papio (PP), with or without forebrain bisection. The temporal part of the macula and surrounding retina of the left eye were coagulated with an Argon laser and later confirmed histologically. In forebrain nonbisected baboons, intermittent light stimulation of the operated eye produced bisymmetrical and bisynchronous spikes and waves and self-sustained seizures. In forebrain-bisected baboons intermittent light stimulation of the operated eye produced spikes and waves and self-sustained seizures localized to the contralateral hemisphere. Subsequent stimulation of the nonoperated eye in the same animal produced spikes and waves and seizures either bilaterally or only in the opposite hemisphere when stimulation took place during the postictal silent period in the first hemisphere. In both cases, the tonic phase of the seizure was always bilateral but asymmetrical as shown by electromyographic recordings. Based on these data, it has been hypothesized that the tonic phase is mediated, in part, through crossed interreticular pathways, by one or both cerebral hemispheres. However, data are also compatible with a possible origin of the tonic phase of the seizure being partly localized in the medial frontal cortex. Results demonstrated (1) the usefulness of laser coagulation of the temporal portion of the macula and retina for the study of the functional independence between two cerebral hemispheres, (2) the critical role of the corpus callosum (CC) in bisynchronization and generalization of the intermittent light stimulation (ILS)-induced seizure, (3) independent excitability of each cerebral hemisphere by the ILS, and (4) the critical role of cortical visual afferents for inducing epileptic phenomena in this species.