Attempts to produce spike-and-wave complexes in the electrocorticogram of the rat.

The effects of several procedures for inducing spike-and-wave complexes in other experimental animals have been examined in the rat. Systemic convulsants, pentylenetetrazol, methionine sulfoximine and fluoroacetate, topical picrotoxin, and bilateral implants of cobalt produced the appearance of polyspike discharges in the ECoG. Topical application of conjugated estrogens to both frontal cortices elicited single spike-and-slow-wave complexes which did not repeat at 3 to 5 cps. These results suggest that the rat is not a suitable species for a detailed study of spike-and-wave production.