Role of specific and nonspecific thalamic nuclei in the genesis of some slow rhythms of the human electrocorticogram

Abstract

An electrocorticographic method of recording after-potentials in response to electrical stimulation of the thalamic nuclei in limbic structures during stereotaxic operations was developed. Altogether 42 patients undergoing operations for subcortical hyperkinesia, pain syndromes, and Kozhevnikov's epilepsy were investigated. The character of the cortical after-discharges in response to stimulation of the ventro-oral nuclear complex (V.o.) and the centrum medianum (Ce) of the thalamus and the amygdala differs in its character. These differences affected the area of spread of after-synchronization of the slow rhythms in regions of the hemispheres, the duration of the bursts of after-activity, and the expression of the accompanying autonomic responses. During the after-response to electrical stimulation of V.o. a relatively local after-synchronization of the slow rhythms in the ECoG was observed in the premotor area on the side of stimulation. The off-response to electrical stimulation of Ce, by contrast with V.o. was bilateral synchronization of the slow rhythm, coinciding in some cases with the appearance of bradypnea, bradycardia, and vasomotor and pilomotor responses. The most marked autonomic responses, associated with long volleys of after-hypersynchronization of slow waves or epileptoid discharges, were observed after stimulation of the amygdala. Problems connected with the mechanisms of after-synchronization of the cortical rhythm and the role of the various thalamic and limbic structures in these mechanisms are discussed.