Hippocampal low-frequency stimulation prevents seizure generation in a mouse model of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy
Abstract
Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) is the most common form of focal, pharmacoresistant epilepsy in adults and is often associated with hippocampal sclerosis. Here, we established the efficacy of optogenetic and electrical low-frequency stimulation (LFS) in interfering with seizure generation in a mouse model of MTLE. Specifically, we applied LFS in the sclerotic hippocampus to study the effects on spontaneous subclinical and evoked generalized seizures. We found that stimulation at 1 Hz for one hour resulted in an almost complete suppression of spontaneous seizures in both hippocampi. This seizure-suppressive action during daily stimulation remained stable over several weeks. Furthermore, LFS for 30 min before a pro-convulsive stimulus successfully prevented seizure generalization. Finally, acute slice experiments revealed a reduced efficacy of perforant path transmission onto granule cells upon LFS. Taken together, our results suggest that hippocampal LFS constitutes a promising approach for seizure control in MTLE.
Data availability
The LFP dataset is available on Open Science Framework: https://osf.io/uk94m/. The source code files for the seizure detection algorithm is accessible at Zenodo (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4110614). The source code for the seizure detection algorithm (Heining et al., 2019) was developed using previously published LFP data (Froriep et al., 2012; Janz et al., 2017b).
-
Hippocampal low-frequency stimulation prevents seizure generation in a mouse model of mesial temporal lobe epilepsyOpen Science Framework, DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/UK94M.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (EXC 1086)
- Ute Häussler
- Marlene Bartos
- Ulrich Egert
- Carola A Haas
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (HA 1443/11-1)
- Carola A Haas
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Ethics
Animal experimentation: All animal procedures were carried out in accordance with the guidelines of the European Community's Council Directive of 22 September 2010 (2010/63/EU) and were approved by the regional council (Regierungspräsidium Freiburg).
Copyright
© 2020, Paschen et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
Metrics
-
- 4,839
- views
-
- 579
- downloads
-
- 48
- citations
Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.
Download links
Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)
Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)
Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)
Further reading
-
- Neuroscience
The hippocampus is a complex structure critically involved in numerous behavior-regulating systems. In young adults, multiple overlapping spatial modes along its longitudinal and transverse axes describe the organization of its functional integration with neocortex, extending the traditional framework emphasizing functional differences between sharply segregated hippocampal subregions. Yet, it remains unknown whether these modes (i.e. gradients) persist across the adult human lifespan, and relate to memory and molecular markers associated with brain function and cognition. In two independent samples, we demonstrate that the principal anteroposterior and second-order, mid-to-anterior/posterior hippocampal modes of neocortical functional connectivity, representing distinct dimensions of macroscale cortical organization, manifest across the adult lifespan. Specifically, individual differences in topography of the second-order gradient predicted episodic memory and mirrored dopamine D1 receptor distribution, capturing shared functional and molecular organization. Older age was associated with less distinct transitions along gradients (i.e. increased functional homogeneity). Importantly, a youth-like gradient profile predicted preserved episodic memory – emphasizing age-related gradient dedifferentiation as a marker of cognitive decline. Our results underscore a critical role of mapping multidimensional hippocampal organization in understanding the neural circuits that support memory across the adult lifespan.
-
- Neuroscience
Although parallel processing has been extensively studied in the low-level geniculostriate pathway and the high-level dorsal and ventral visual streams, less is known at the intermediate-level visual areas. In this study, we employed high-resolution fMRI at 7T to investigate the columnar and laminar organizations for color, disparity, and naturalistic texture in the human secondary visual cortex (V2), and their informational connectivity with lower- and higher-order visual areas. Although fMRI activations in V2 showed reproducible interdigitated color-selective thin and disparity-selective thick ‘stripe’ columns, we found no clear evidence of columnar organization for naturalistic textures. Cortical depth-dependent analyses revealed the strongest color-selectivity in the superficial layers of V2, along with both feedforward and feedback informational connectivity with V1 and V4. Disparity selectivity was similar across different cortical depths of V2, which showed significant feedforward and feedback connectivity with V1 and V3ab. Interestingly, the selectivity for naturalistic texture was strongest in the deep layers of V2, with significant feedback connectivity from V4. Thus, while local circuitry within cortical columns is crucial for processing color and disparity information, feedback signals from V4 are involved in generating the selectivity for naturalistic textures in area V2.