Cerebral cortex neurons with extra spikes: a normal substrate for epileptic discharges?

Abstract

Double spikes during otherwise rhythmic discharge were frequently observed in 'fast' pyramidal tract neurons in response to steady depolarizing currents injected through the recording micropipette. The extra spike appears to arise from a large depolarizing afterpotential crossing the falling threshold several milliseconds following a spike; extra spikes themselves may generate further extra spikes in a similar manner, generating burst patterns which are strikingly similar to those of epileptic neurons.