多发性硬化患者的认知功能损害

目的研究多发性硬化(multiplesclerosis,MS)患者认知功能损害的形式、特点及相关影响因素,了解认知功能损害对患者生活功能的影响。方法将66例MS患者分为脊髓型和脑/脑脊髓型两组,另外选择健康对照30名,采用神经心理学测验的方法系统评价记忆、语言、信息处理速度、执行功能及整体认知功能,并进行生活功能评定,所有MS患者同时接受头颅及脊髓磁共振成像(MRI)检查。结果神经心理学测试发现,与健康对照组相比,脑/脑脊髓型MS组瞬时记忆和长延迟记忆受损明显(P<0.05),执行功能损害显著(P<0.01),信息处理速度下降(P<0.01)。单纯脊髓型也存在认知功能损害,以执行功能损害及信息处理速度下降为主(P<0.05)。记忆、执行功能等认知功能测验成绩与头颅MRI所见病变相关(r=-0.319～-0.543,P<0.05)。认知功能测验成绩与病程长短、复发次数无明显相关。执行性画钟作业(CLOX)及Stroop测验反应错误数与扩展功能障碍状态量表(EDSS)有相关性(r=-0.325及0.372,P<0.05)。操作性日常生活能力(IADL)及MS生活影响量表(MSIS29)得分与记忆、执行功能等认知测验成绩呈负相关(r=-0.325～-0.537,P<0.05)。结论MS的认知功能损害以记忆、信息处理速度、执行功能为主,整体认知功能及语言功能相对保存。认知功能损害影响患者的生活功能,与病程长短、复发次数无明显相关。     

Stroop色词测验在早期识别阿尔茨海默病中的作用

目的评估中文版Stroop色词测验(CWT)在识别轻度认知功能损害(MCI)与轻度阿尔茨海默病(AD)中的作用。方法正常老人94名,遗忘型MCI组86名和轻度AD组51名完成包括简易智力状态检查量表(MMSE)和CWT在内的8种神经心理测验。正常老人、MCI和轻度AD组的MMSE总分分别为(28.2±1.5)分、(26.9±1.9)分和(20.1±2.5)分。CWT由3张卡片、每张50字、4种颜色组成。分析指标包括完成每张卡片的耗时数、正确阅读数和干扰量(SIE)。结果SIE与反映执行功能的连线测验、言语流畅性测验有显著的相关性。不管是正常老人还是认知损害患者,读字(卡片A)均快于颜色命名(卡片B)。以卡片C正确数39个为分界,识别轻度AD的敏感性为80.4%,特异性为86.2%。根据SIE指标发现轻度AD患者在处理速度和正确性的关系方面与MCI组的应答策略不同。结论中文版CWT适合在中国老人中应用,有助于早期识别AD,MCI患者和轻度AD患者针对干扰作用的不同表现。     

强迫症患者认知功能特点的研究

目的了解强迫症患者的认知功能特点。方法以52例停药或首诊的强迫症患者为研究对象,均符合美国精神障碍诊断与统计手册第4版和中国精神障碍分类与诊断标准第3版强迫症诊断标准,以年龄、性别、受教育年限与强迫症组匹配的53名健康人作为正常对照组,采用神经心理测验分别对两组进行评定。结果强迫症患者的知识[(1996±502)分]、算术[(1405±231)分]、数字符号[(5730±1241)个]、木块图形[(3548±875)分]、逻辑即时记忆[(930±412)个]、逻辑延迟记忆[(667±437)个]、词语流畅性[(2201±691)个]、划痕[(6756±2723)s]、威斯康星卡片分类测验[(3288±636)个]、汉诺塔测验成绩[(5517±971)分]均差于正常对照组,分别为知识(2193±322)分、算术(1505±186)分、数字符号(6462±1058)个、木块图形(3862±709)分、逻辑即时记忆(1311±379)个、逻辑延迟记忆(1105±481)个、词语流畅性(2650±607)个、划痕(5412±1849)s、威斯康星卡片分类测验(3615±346)个、汉诺塔测验成绩(6194±919)分,均P<005和P<001;强迫症组和正常对照组的STCW正确数分别为(9024±2007)个和(9326±1592)个,STC和STCW的纠正数均为(0)个和(1)个,均P<005。结论强迫症患者存在广泛的认知功能损害,涉及注意、记忆、执行功能、语言和非语言表达等方面     

首次发病的强迫症患者认知功能的研究

目的:探讨首次发病的强迫症(OCD)患者认知功能的特点及相关影响因素。方法:采用逻辑记忆、视觉再生记忆、连线测验、数字广度、Stroop测验及威斯康星卡片分类测验分别对35例首次发病的OCD患者(OCD组)及30名健康对照者(HC组)进行神经心理学测评;应用Yale-Brown强迫量表(Y-BOCS)、抑郁自评量表(SDS)、状态-特质焦虑问卷(STAI)评定患者的病情及抑郁、焦虑程度。结果:OCD组的逻辑延迟记忆、视觉再生记忆、连线测验A、B时间、数字广度倒背、Stroop测验字色阅读时间、威斯康星卡片分类测验成绩较明显差于健康对照组(P均<0.05)。OCD患者的病程与其视觉延迟记忆、数字广度倒背分呈负相关(r=-0.39,P=0.024;r=-0.38,P=0.027),SDS分与Stroop测验字色阅读时间正相关(r=0.37,P<0.05),Y-BOCS分、SAI分及TAI分与各神经心理学指标的相关性无统计学意义(P均>0.05)。结论:首次发病的OCD患者存在记忆、注意和执行功能损害。     

早期帕金森病的模糊决策功能障碍

目的探讨早期帕金森病(Parkinson’s disease,PD)患者在概率不明确条件下的模糊决策能力是否受损,并分析该功能损害与其他认知功能的关系以及是否与基底节区病变有关。方法研究对象为年龄、性别匹配的早期PD患者(Hoehn-Yahr分级≤Ⅱ级)、右侧基底节梗死(right basal ganglia infarction,BGI)患者和正常对照各20名。采用蒙特利尔认知评估量表、Stroop字色测试等工具对进行背景认知功能测试,采用爱荷华博弈实验(Iowa Gambling Task,IGT)对各组进行模糊决策评测,分析IGT测试成绩与背景认知之间的相关性。结果3组Stroop测试成绩的差异有统计学意义(F=33.27,P<0.05),PD组(21.35±4.28)差于BGI组(13.30±3.21)和对照组(13.60±2.98)(P<0.05)。3组在IGT测试成绩差异亦有统计学意义(F=5.38,P<0.05),PD组总有利备择得分(48.95±7.01)低于BGI组(52.95±2.72)和正常对照组(53.15±2.43)(P<0.05)。BGI组的Stroop测试和模糊决策IGT测试成绩与对照组比较,差异均无统计学意义(P>0.05)。早期PD患者IGT测试成绩与Stroop测试成绩呈负相关(r=-0.65,P<0.05)。结论早期PD患者存在模糊决策障碍和执行功能障碍,两者间存在相关性。单纯基底节区脑梗死对模糊决策和执行功能无显著影响。PD患者模糊决策障碍可能源于基底节以外脑区损害。     

抑郁症首次发病患者认知功能的研究

目的探讨抑郁症首次发病(以下简称首发)患者的认知功能特点及其影响因素。方法采用韦氏成人智力量表、韦氏记忆量表、威斯康星卡片分类测验(WCST)分别评定116例首发抑郁症患者(抑郁症组)和41名健康人(对照组)的认知状况,采用汉密尔顿抑郁量表(24项,HAMD)评定病情严重程度。对影响神经心理学测验成绩的临床症状进行逐步多元回归分析。结果(1)抑郁症组的长时记忆[(35.28±7.27)分]、短时记忆[(51.32±13.41)分]、记忆商数[(89.46±17.84)]、语言智商数[(110.96±13.72)]、操作智商数[101.90±15.98)]、智商数[(107.41±15.78)]均明显低于对照组[长时记忆(44.05±5.06)分,短时记忆(71.41±8.51)分,记忆商数(121.90±11.26),语言智商数(117.49±10.99),操作智商数(117.24±10.54),智商数[(118.98±10.95)],差异均有统计学意义(均P<0.01)。抑郁症组的WCST总测验数[(74.70±27.96)个]、持续错误数[(26.07±15.31)个]、随机错误数[(24.46±17.54)个]均明显高于对照组[WCST总测验数(60.15±23.05)个,持续错误数(17.56±11.44)个,随机错误数(17.73±14.27)个],差异有统计学意义(P<0.01或<0.05)。抑郁症组长时记忆成绩、短时记忆成绩和记忆商数低于对照组2个标准差。(2)逐步多元回归分析显示,抑郁症患者的长时记忆成绩及记忆商数与绝望感因子分均呈负相关(均P=0.00),短时记忆成绩和即刻记忆成绩与阻滞因子分均呈负相关(均P=0.00),语言智商与焦虑/躯体化因子分呈负相关(P=0.01),操作智商及智商与HAMD总分均呈负相关(均P=0.01),WCST总测验数和持续错误数与HAMD总分均呈正相关(P=0.01,P=0.02),随机错误数与阻滞因子分呈正相关(P=0.02)。结论首发抑郁症患者急性期的记忆、语言智商、操作智商和执行功能明显减退,临床症状严重程度影响认知功能的改变。     

逻辑记忆在早期识别阿尔茨海默病患者中的作用

目的验证逻辑记忆测验在在早期识别AD患者中的作用。方法63例正常对照老人、71例轻度认知功能损害(MCI)与45例轻度阿尔茨海默病(M-AD)患者完成逻辑记忆测验(LM)。结果在正常老人组,LM的即刻回忆、延迟记忆与被试年龄、性别没有显著的相关性(P>0.05),与教育程度有显著相关性(r=0.28,P<0.05)。LM即刻回忆与延迟记忆的相关系数为0.86(P<0.01)。LM即刻回忆与Rey-Osterrich复杂图形记忆测验的延迟回忆、听觉词语记忆测验的相关性比LM延迟回忆的低。LM延迟记忆而不是即刻回忆得分有助于识别MCI。LM即刻回忆≤6分作为划界分,识别AD的敏感性为79%,特异性为87%。LM延迟记忆≤5分作为划界分,敏感性为91%,特异性为89%。结论LM的延迟记忆比即刻记忆更有助于识别轻度认知功能损害与轻度阿尔茨海默病。     

两种遗忘型轻度认知损害患者的随访比较

目的 比较单纯遗忘型轻度认知功能损害(aMCI-s)和多个认知领域损害遗忘型轻度认知功能损害(aMCI-m)患者的2年随访转归结果并分析其神经心理学变化.方法 采用MMSE、听觉词语学习测验(AVLT)、逻辑回忆测验(LMT)、连线测验(TMT)、Stroop色词测验(CWT)、Rey复杂图形测验(CFT)、五点连线测验(FPT)、画钟测验(CDT)、言语流畅性测验(VF)和临床痴呆量表(CDR)等一系列神经心理测验评估记忆障碍门诊130例遗忘型轻度认知功能损害(aMCI)就诊者(其中aMCI-s 66例和aMCI-m 64例),并进行平均2年的随访,MCI及AD的诊断标准分别参照美国Petersen等及美国神经病学、语言障碍和卒中-老年性痴呆和相关疾病学会(NINCDS-ADRDA)有关诊断标准.结果 aMCI的阿尔茨海默病(AD)总转化率为33.8%(44/130);aMCI-s和aMCI-m的AD转化率分别为26.2%(17/65)和42.9%(27/63),差异有统计学意义(x2=3.957,P=0.047).随着aMCI发展为AD,aMCI-s和aMCI-m组在记忆和执行功能方面的减退幅度接近,aMCI-s组的视空间结构能力相对保留,语言和注意力的减退更快,aMCI-m组的视空间结构能力衰退更为显著.结论 aMCI-m比aMCI-s更容易发展为AD,aMCI分为aMCI-s和aMCI-m对判断认知功能减退的速度是有必要的,有助于判断预后.     

脑小血管病患者伴发非痴呆血管性认知功能损害情况及尼莫地平疗效的研究

目的探讨脑小血管病(cerebral small vessel disease,SVD)不同亚型伴发非痴呆血管性认知功能损害的情况,评价尼莫地平对SVD的疗效。方法选择SVD患者118例,包括52例腔隙灶脑梗死(LI)和66例白质疏松(WML)患者。分别将LI组和WML组患者随机分组为治疗组(基础治疗加尼莫地平治疗)和对照组(基础治疗),进行6个月治疗。治疗前后对所有患者采用蒙特利尔认知评估量表(MoCA)、简易智能状态检查表(MMSE)、语义分类流畅测验(动物)、Stroop测验(计算错误数)、画钟试验、积木测验、数字广度顺背测验、数字符号测验、逻辑记忆亚测验和再生亚测验进行认知功能评价,并比较各组患者治疗前后认知功能评分。结果治疗前,LI组患者语义分类流畅测验(动物)、数字符号测验、逻辑记忆亚测验、视觉再生亚测验、MoCA、MMSE评分显著高于WML组患者,Stroop测验得分显著低于WML组患者。经过6个月治疗后,LI组和WML组患者中的对照组治疗前后各项认知功能评分均没有统计学差异(P>0.05)。LI组患者中治疗组MoCA、画钟试验和数字广度顺背测验得分升高,Stroop测验得分下降(均P<0.05);WML组患者中治疗组MoCA、MMSE、画钟试验、数字广度顺背测验和视觉再生亚测验得分升高,Stroop测验得分下降(均P<0.05)。结论 SVD两个亚型伴发非痴呆血管性认知功能损害情况不同,LI患者损害程度比WML患者轻。尼莫地平治疗可较好的改善患者的执行功能、视空间结构能力和注意力。     

轻度认知功能障碍患者的神经心理学研究

目的 探讨轻度认知功能障碍(MCI)患者神经心理学的特点. 方法 对42例MCI患者和55例健康对照者进行多项神经心理学检查,包括简易精神状态检查量表(MMSE)、蒙特利尔认知评估量表(MoCA)、临床痴呆评定量表(CDR)、语言流畅性测验(RVR)、韦氏智力测验(WAIS-RC)[包括数字广度测验(DS)、积木测验(BD)、相似性测验]、韦氏记忆测验(WMS-R)(包括逻辑记忆、联想学习、视觉再认、图片回忆)、日常生活能力量表(ADL),比较2组患者上述量表评分和MMSE、MoCA量表各亚项评分的差异.结果 与对照者比较,MCI患者MMSE、MoCA总分和RVR、WAIS-RC、WMS-R分测验,MoCA量表各亚项(地点定向力除外),MMSE量表中计算与注意、延迟回忆两亚项评分较低,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05).结论 MCI患者不仅记忆受损,其计算与注意力、命名、视空间结构能力、执行功能也可受损,尤以延迟回忆、计算与注意力受损明显.MoCA涵盖了重要的认知领域,能较全面评估MCI患者的认知功能,值的临床推广应用.     

Diagnostic Difficulties and Treatment Implications

Summary: Differentiation between types of epileptic seizures has been aided in recent years by the introduction of intensive neurodiagnostic techniques and the development of increasingly detailed classification systems. Paradoxically, these developments have not simplified the task of matching the appropriate antiepileptic drug to a particular seizure type. It is reasonable to assume that anticonvulsant drugs will have different effects on different types of seizures, but faulty, circular reasoning can enter the picture if one also assumes that responses of seizures to different drugs signify different seizure types. There are several examples of differential diagnoses that can fall prey to this problem, including the diagnosis between partial seizures with secondary generalization and generalized tonic-clonic seizures, and the diagnosis between complex partial seizures and absence seizures with automatisms, among others. Considerations of etiology in future classification systems can further complicate the problem: should one then choose an anticonvulsant drug on the basis of individual seizure type or on the basis of the type of epilepsy? Ramifications of this issue extend even to the drug approval process. Official sanction is not given for use of a drug for a seizure type not included in the original efficacy studies, even if later scientific evidence shows that seizure type to be related to a type that is included. New trials must be undertaken. These problems arise from how we choose to classify seizures.     

Cognitive Dysfunction Associated with Antiepileptic Drug Therapy

Summary: Epilepsy is frequently associated with cognitive dysfunction. However, the reasons for this correlation are unclear. Possible influential factors include patient age; duration, frequency, etiology, and type of seizures; hereditary factors; psychosocial issues; and antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy. Whereas many of these factors are beyond the physician's control, AED therapy is one element that can be addressed in treatment decisions by recognizing the potential cognitive effects of particular AEDs. For example, phenobarbital impairs memory and concentration; phenytoin affects attention, problem solving ability, and performance of visuomotor tasks. In contrast, carbamazepine may affect concentration, while valproate would appear to have minimal effects on cognition. Moreover, cognitive effects of AEDs are amplified with coadministration of multiple anticonvulsants (polytherapy). A review of studies on the cognitive effects of monotherapy with AEDs, as opposed to those of polytherapy, provides evidence that drug-related cognitive dysfunction can be reversed if patients are switched to a simpler therapeutic regimen. Future research should be directed toward developing reliable measures for assessing and monitoring cognition, and understanding the particular cognitive side effects of each AED. Physicians also need to revise their opinions about which side effects are "tolerable" for epileptic patients.     

Carbamazepine Efficacy in Adults With Partial and Generalized Tonic-Clonic Seizures

Summary: Carbamazepine and phenytoin are drugs of choice in initial monotherapy for adult partial and secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures. These designations reflect the results of the Veterans Administration Epilepsy Cooperative Study Group of 1985. An earlier comparative study of carbamazepine and phenytoin by Ramsay and associates found both drugs equally effective in controlling new-onset seizures. Among the advantages of carbamazepine is that it causes relatively few cognitive and dysmorphic side effects. Its disadvantages are its unavailability in parenteral formulation and its metabolic autoinduction. The latter must be compensated for by planned dosage increases to maintain therapeutic plasma steady-state levels during the first 2 or 3 months of treatment. Carbamazepine is judged a drug of choice in the treatment of these secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures, and the drug of choice in children, adolescents, and women susceptible to the dysmorphic side effects associated with other anticonvulsant agents.     

Etiologic and Preventive Aspects of Epilepsy in the Child–Bridging the Gap Between Laboratory and Clinic

Summary: Four broad categories of basic phenomena are pertinent to developing ways to prevent epilepsy. These include mechanisms of epileptogenesis, ictal initiation and temporary entrainment by the seizure discharge of normally functioning brain, seizure propagation, and control mechanisms that function both to restrain the cascade of epileptic events culminating in a seizure and to arrest the epileptic event and restore the interictal state. In newborns and children, hypoxia-ischemia is a major factor leading to epileptogenesis, and several schemes are proposed to classify, quantify, and prevent hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Control mechanisms must be better understood in order to develop prophylactic recommendations for epilepsy, and an experimental model of "kindling antagonism" may increase our understanding of these. Programs of prevention of seizures in children will evolve only if basic researchers and clinicians work productively together to develop an adequate understanding of factors important in epileptogenesis and antiepileptogenic control mechanisms.     

Epilepsy and anomalies of neuronal migration: MRI and clinical aspects

Neuronal migration disorders are the result of disturbed brain development. In such disorders, neurons are abnormally located. In diagnosing these conditions, magnetic resonance imaging is superior to any other imaging technique. This enables us to improve our knowledge of the clinical correlates of neuronal migration. With reference to migrational disorder, a retrospective study of all 303 patients with epileptic seizures referred for magnetic resonance imaging during a 3-year period was performed, 13 patients (aged 12-41, mean age 27) were identified. They represent 4.3% of the entire study group. Of the patients with known epilepsy, 6.7% and of the mentally retarded, 13.7% had migrational disorders. Four patients had schizencephaly as the dominant finding, one was classified as hemimegalencephaly, 2 had isolated heterotopias, and 6 had localized pachy- and/or poly-microgyria. The clinical pictures are complex. Ectopias of grey matter are recognised foci of epilepsy, but from an epileptological and a clinical viewpoint little attention has been given to these disorders. The present study shows that malmigration is not rare in epilepsy patients, especially not in the mentally retarded.     

Predisposing and Causative Factors in Childhood Epilepsy

Summary: We review information from large studies of defined populations, examining the role of known factors and especially of prenatal and perinatal factors in contributing to nonfebrile seizure disorders of early childhood. We depend especially, but not exclusively, on the recently completed analyses from the Collaborative Perinatal Project of the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, the NCPP. About 4% of children in the NCPP who had at least one non-febrile nonsymptomatic seizure by the age of 7 years had a previous seizure during acute neurologic illness, such as meningitis or during the acute illness after trauma. Many such seizures should potentially be preventable. Of children with seizures, 10% had had a neonatal seizure and 13% had had a febrile seizure. Among the hundreds of prenatal and perinatal factors explored as predictors of childhood seizure disorders, the principal predictors identified were congenital malformations of the fetus, cerebral and noncerebral; family history of certain neurologic disorders; and neonatal seizures. In agreement with the British National Child Development Study, labor and delivery factors in the NCPP appeared to contribute very little to childhood seizure disorders. Maldevelopment, rather than damage at birth to an initially intact nervous system, appeared to be the more common mechanism. Most seizure disorders of early childhood remained unexplained by the large set of prenatal and perinatal characteristics examined.     

Anticonvulsant Drugs and Cognitive Function: A Review of the Literature

Summary: Alterations of cognitive function are separate from disturbances of behavior seen in association with epilepsy. The nature of the cognitive disability may to a certain extent depend on the seizure type. Partial seizures, mainly derived from a temporal lobe focus, impair memory tasks, while generalized seizures seem to have more effect on attentional abilities. A number of studies, reviewed in this paper, suggest that anticonvulsant drugs further impair cognitive function. Maximal impairments are seen in patients receiving polytherapy: rationalization of polytherapy improves cognitive abilities. Studies in children and adults have allowed differentiation of the effects of various commonly used antiepileptic agents. Maximal cognitive deficits are seen with. phenytoin, while phenobarbital and sodium valproate induce moderate disturbances, and carbamazepine seems relatively free from such toxicity. Further research is needed on the interrelationship between types of seizure disorders, types of anticonvulsant medications, and cognitive function.     

Classification of methods in transcranial Electrical Stimulation (tES) and evolving strategy from historical approaches to contemporary innovations

Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (tES) encompasses all methods of non-invasive current application to the brain used in research and clinical practice. We present the first comprehensive and technical review, explaining the evolution of tES in both terminology and dosage over the past 100 years of research to present day. Current transcranial Pulsed Current Stimulation (tPCS) approaches such as Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation (CES) descended from Electrosleep (ES) through Cranial Electro-stimulation Therapy (CET), Transcerebral Electrotherapy (TCET), and NeuroElectric Therapy (NET) while others like Transcutaneous Cranial Electrical Stimulation (TCES) descended from Electroanesthesia (EA) through Limoge, and Interferential Stimulation. Prior to a contemporary resurgence in interest, variations of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation were explored intermittently, including Polarizing current, Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS), and Transcranial Micropolarization. The development of these approaches alongside Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) and pharmacological developments are considered. Both the roots and unique features of contemporary approaches such as transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) and transcranial Random Noise Stimulation (tRNS) are discussed. Trends and incremental developments in electrode montage and waveform spanning decades are presented leading to the present day. Commercial devices, seminal conferences, and regulatory decisions are noted. We conclude with six rules on how increasing medical and technological sophistication may now be leveraged for broader success and adoption of tES.     

Treatment Considerations in Anticonvulsant Monotherapy

Summary: The long-standing practice of polypharmacy in treating epilepsy is giving way to use of monotherapy. Monotherapy can improve seizure control as well as reduce the risk of serious idiosyncratic reactions, dose-related side effects, and complex drug interactions. Monotherapy also offers improved compliance and cost-effectiveness. The basis of monotherapy is accurate diagnosis and assessment of the patient's seizure type(s), followed by selection of a single appropriate anticonvulsant drug. Many patients currently treated with multiple anticonvulsants can be successfully converted to monotherapy with a carefully monitored program in which troublesome and redundant drugs are gradually withdrawn from the therapeutic regimen.     

Effects of NMD A- and AMPA-Receptor Antagonists on Different Forms of Epileptiform Activity in Rat Temporal Cortex Slices

Summary: Lowering extracellular magnesium induces different patterns of epileptiform activity in rat hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. Short recurrent epileptiform discharges in the hippocampus are stable over time, whereas seizurelike events (SLEs) in the entorhinal cortex, the subiculum, and the neighboring neocortex develop into late recurrent discharges which are not blocked by clinically employed antiepileptic drugs. We tested the sensitivity of the different epileptiform discharge patterns to. /V-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)- and non-NMDA-receptor antagonists. As NMDA-receptor antagonist we used dextrorphan, ket-amine, and 2-aminophosphonovalerate (2APV); as α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionic acid (AMPA)-receptor antagonist we employed the quinoxaline derivative glutamate 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX). The findings show that the different patterns of epileptiform activity, including the late recurrent discharges, are sensitive to all NMDA-receptor antagonists. However, when dextrorphan was employed to suppress seizure-like events, later recurrent discharges did not develop during the remaining time course of the experiment. CNQX reversibly suppressed recurrent discharges in the hippocampus and SLEs in the entorhinal cortex. However, late recurrent discharges become insensitive to CNQX, even at a high concentration of 60 μM m. This finding suggests a prominent role for NMDA receptors in the generation of late recurrent discharges.