Knife cuts of entorhinal cortex: effects on development of amygdaloid kindling and seizure-induced decrease of muscarinic cholinergic receptors.

This report examines the effect of transection of the entorhinal hippocampal projection on amygdaloid kindling. We found that: bilateral knife cuts of entorhinal cortex but not of dorsal neocortex antagonize the development of amygdaloid kindling; and bilateral knife cuts of entorhinal cortex eliminate the seizure-induced decrease in number of muscarinic receptors of dentate granule cells. We suggest the following interpretations of these data: the hippocampal formation circuitry facilitates the development of amygdaloid kindling; and the decline of muscarinic receptors after kindled seizures is due to excessive activation of granule cells by axons from entorhinal cortex, a noncholinergic afferent.