Effects of Seizures on Single Pyramidal Tract Neurons

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Abstract
Previous analyses of seizure activity have concentrated either on the activity of large populations of cortical neurons1 or the activities of single neurons identified by their depth beneath the surface of the cortex.2-5 Since different neurons within a complex laminar system such as the cortex may be expected to behave in different and even opposite ways during a seizure,2 the analysis of seizure activity may be clarified by studying the activity of a specific group of cortical neurons such as those projecting into the pyramidal tract. Adrian and Moruzzi6 were the first to record the activity of these neurons in the medullary pyramid, and noted their increased frequency of discharge when limbs were stimulated or convulsants applied to the cortex. Such data did not differentiate between the effects of convulsants on the discharge of pyramidal tract neurons themselves and the effects of the cells synaptically driving