Two seizure-onset types reveal specific patterns of high-frequency oscillations in a model of temporal lobe epilepsy

High-frequency oscillations (HFOs; 80-500 Hz) are thought to mirror the pathophysiological changes occurring in epileptic brains. However, the distribution of HFOs during seizures remains undefined. Here, we recorded from the hippocampal CA3 subfield, subiculum, entorhinal cortex, and dentate gyrus to quantify the occurrence of ripples (80-200 Hz) and fast ripples (250-500 Hz) during low-voltage fast-onset (LVF) and hypersynchronous-onset (HYP) seizures in the rat pilocarpine model of temporal lobe epilepsy. We discovered in LVF seizures that (1) progression from preictal to ictal activity was characterized in seizure-onset zones by an increase of ripple rates that were higher when compared with fast ripple rates and (2) ripple rates during the ictal period were higher compared with fast ripple rates in seizure-onset zones and later in regions of secondary spread. In contrast, we found in HYP seizures that (1) fast ripple rates increased during the preictal period and were higher compared with ripple rates in both seizure-onset zones and in regions of secondary spread and (2) they were still higher compared with ripple rates in both seizure-onset zones and regions of secondary spread during the ictal period. Our findings demonstrate that ripples and fast ripples show distinct time- and region-specific patterns during LVF and HYP seizures, thus suggesting that they play specific roles in ictogenesis. © 2012 the authors.