In acute experiments on cats under deep Nembutal anesthesia punctures of the cortex caused a prolonged negative shift of its surface potential (up to 15 mv, 5.5 min), which was followed by a prolonged positive shift. During these shifts of the potential, both components of the direct response were depressed. The changes in potential and the depression of electric activity spread over the cortex...

The nonlinear wave phenomenon of cortical spreading depression (SD), which occurs in many brain structures, has mathematical similarities to neuronal spiking but on very different space and time scales. Its properties and previous modeling are briefly reviewed. A model consisting of a 6-component reaction-diffusion system in two space dimensions is described. With 3-parameter Poisson process so...

In this edition of Cephalalgia, Dr Holland and colleagues report the very interesting findings from a series of in vivo cat and rodent experiments aimed at identifying potential therapeutic targets for the modulation of cortical spreading depression (CSD). Over the past two decades, a series of functional neuroimaging studies performed in human migraineurs during acute aura (1–4) have linked CS...

We analyzed the metabolic response to cortical spreading depression that drastically increases local energy demand to restore ion homeostasis. During single and multiple cortical spreading depressions in the rat cortex, we simultaneously monitored extracellular levels of glucose and lactate using rapid sampling microdialysis and glucose influx using 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tom...

WEAK electrical stimulus applied to A the rabbit’s cerebral cortex causes under certain conditions (I) a depression of the spontaneous electrical activity which spreads with low velocity (3-5 mm/min) over the cortex and lasts from I to 3 min. Several repetitions of the stimulus at intervals of 8-10 min may change this spreading cortical depression into a spreading convulsive pattern (2-5). Both...

WEAK electrical stimulus applied to A the rabbit’s cerebral cortex causes under certain conditions (I) a depression of the spontaneous electrical activity which spreads with low velocity (3-5 mm/min) over the cortex and lasts from I to 3 min. Several repetitions of the stimulus at intervals of 8-10 min may change this spreading cortical depression into a spreading convulsive pattern (2-5). Both...

The possibility that spreading depression (SD) of cortical activity, a phenomenon observed in all vertebrates, causes the aura of migraine remains an open question in spite of nearly half a century of investigation. SD is also thought to be associated with the progressive neuronal injury observed during cerebral ischaemia. Thus, the ability to detect and investigate SD in humans might prove cli...

Migraine is a disorder that afflicts nearly one tenth of the population. Involving both nervous and vascular system, it has been found as a prominent factor of disability. The migraine attacks may be initiated in the brainstem or may begin peripherally in the meninges while the role of cortical activation preceding an attack is also debated. Although available treatments, more studies on migrai...

Multiple sclerosis and migraine with aura are clinically correlated and both show imaging changes suggestive of myelin disruption. Furthermore, cortical myelin loss in the cuprizone animal model of multiple sclerosis enhances susceptibility to spreading depression, the likely underlying cause of migraine with aura. Since multiple sclerosis pathology involves inflammatory T cell lymphocyte produ...

Introduction: Cortical Spreading Depression (CSD) is a propagating wave of neural and glial cell depolarization with important role in several clinical disorders. Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) is a potential tool with preventive treatment effects in psychiatric and neuronal disorders. In this paper, we study the effects of rTMS on CSD by using behavioral and histological a...