Hippocampus
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A paired-pulse (PP) stimulation protocol was used to examine changes in field potentials (fEPSPs), locally evoked in CA1 via Schaffer/ commissural fiber stimulation and in the dentate gyrus (DG) through angular bundle stimulation, in freely moving epileptic rats. This epilepsy model is characterized by recurrent spontaneous seizures that occur after a latent period of 1-2 weeks following an electrically induced status epilepticus (SE). In the control period, i.e., before induction of SE, the PP stimulation protocol given at the appropriate intensity evoked fEPSPs with a pronounced paired-pulse depression (PPD). ⋯ We noted Timm granules positioned on parvalbumin immunoreactive neurons in the granule-cell layer of rats that had survived SE, suggesting that restoration of PPD could be partly due to reinnervation of a population of GABAergic neurons. The broad late component of DG fEPSPs, which was sensitive to the NMDA receptor antagonist ketamine, was still present for at least 6 weeks into the chronic epileptic phase, indicating lasting increased excitability. These observed changes indicate a lasting increased excitability in CA1 and DG networks that could play a role in the recurrence of spontaneous seizures.