Thalamic inputs modulate cortical activity: Possibility to control the generation and the termination of seizure-like behaviour

Because of a dense loop pattern the thalamus receives and sends connections to cortical areas. In a recent experimental study it has been shown that injuries to the cerebral cortex can cause changes to the excitability of a set of neurons which reside in the thalamus. In this paper, using a computational approach, it is investigated how the interaction between thalamus and cortex compartments is involved in seizure expression. The numerical simulations of a realistic model of cortico–thalamo–cortical network show that seizure-like behaviour is an emergent property of the whole network. It is shown that pathological network states, as seizure-like dynamics, can be controlled by manipulating different model parameters determining the coupling between the thalamus components and the cortex. To be more specific it is established that a (partial or complete) reduction in the cortical seizure activity can be brought about silencing the neuron spiking activity in the thalamo-cortical module by adjusting (i) amplitudes and (ii) decay time constants of synaptic currents. These numerical results could be of interest for epilepsy treatment, since they allow to shed light on the mechanisms involved in generation and control of this pathological condition.