A pilot study of the role of the claustrum in attention and seizures in rats

Findings from the operant conditioning task suggest stimulation of the claustrum can alter attention or awareness. CCEPs demonstrated connectivity between the two claustra and between the claustrum and the hippocampi. Such connectivity may be part of the circuitry that underlies the alteration of awareness in limbic seizures. Lastly, KA seizures showed early involvement of the claustrum, a finding that also supports a possible role of the claustrum in the alteration of consciousness that accompanies dyscognitive seizures.