Gene-Controlled Time Constants in Convulsive Behavior

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Abstract
Experiments on three strains of mice, DBA/2, C57, and an inbred group (A Heston), indicate a particular convulsive risk is dependent on a number of susceptibility-producing genes with additive effects present in the animal, and a gene-controlled process of accommodation, and that the risk of death following a convulsion is determined by a different set of genes and different physiological factors. Also, in a study of the kinetics of accommodation, by using 30- to 35-day old hybrid mice from crosses between DBA/2 and C57 Black/6, with an apparatus consisting of the suspension of a doorbell by means of rubber bands across the top of a wash tub and a H. H. Scott meter for sound intensity, behavior was seen to be constant. Procedure included a primary stimulus of 5, 10, or 20 sec., an interruption of 5 to 40 sec., and then a continuous stimulation for 90 sec. or until the animal convulsed. Sound stimulation above a certain level sets up a relatively persistent excitatory focus within 5 to 10 sec. Convulsions follow, if the stimulation is continued, or, if it is interrupted, for not more than 15 min. Longer interruptions result in a discharge of the excitation and a period of inexcitability persisting from 1 to 2 min. In a certain % of cases, the convulsion threshold is not reached even with continued stimulation and an inability state is produced after 60 sec. Since the kinetics of the convulsive process is gene-controlled, the difference may be due to a difference in enzyme systems which control metabolic processes affecting the cerebral pH. Such differences may be localized in the nervous system or reside elsewhere.

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