biostudies-literatureMcCafferty CNCATS NIH HHSU.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and StrokeMark Loughridge & Michele Williams Foundation; Betsy & Jonathan Blattmachr FamilyNINDS NIH HHS117https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9832004biostudies-literatureUnknown14(1)Absence seizures are brief episodes of impaired consciousness, behavioral arrest, and unresponsiveness, with yet-unknown neuronal mechanisms. Here we report that an awake female rat model recapitulates the behavioral, electroencephalographic, and cortical functional magnetic resonance imaging characteristics of human absence seizures. Neuronally, seizures feature overall decreased but rhythmic firing of neurons in cortex and thalamus. Individual cortical and thalamic neurons express one of four distinct patterns of seizure-associated activity, one of which causes a transient initial peak in overall firing at seizure onset, and another which drives sustained decreases in overall firing. 40-60 s before seizure onset there begins a decline in low frequency electroencephalographic activity, neNature communicationsDecreased but diverse activity of cortical and thalamic neurons in consciousness-impairing rodent absence seizures.PMC9832004R37NS100901UL1 TR001863R37 NS100901Crunelli VIslam WKhalaf AAntwi PHyder FJohnson EAHerman PSalvino PMcCafferty CVitkovskiy PSanganahalli BGBlumenfeld HAkbari RGruenbaum BFZheng XDavid FVincent PKundishora AFreedman IGSwift KKratochvil ZTung RSampognaro JDepaulis ALi JJRyu JHfalseDecreased but diverse activity of cortical and thalamic neurons in consciousness-impairing rodent absence seizures.Absence seizures are brief episodes of impaired consciousness, behavioral arrest, and unresponsiveness, with yet-unknown neuronal mechanisms. Here we report that an awake female rat model recapitulates the behavioral, electroencephalographic, and cortical functional magnetic resonance imaging characteristics of human absence seizures. Neuronally, seizures feature overall decreased but rhythmic firing of neurons in cortex and thalamus. Individual cortical and thalamic neurons express one of four distinct patterns of seizure-associated activity, one of which causes a transient initial peak in overall firing at seizure onset, and another which drives sustained decreases in overall firing. 40-60 s before seizure onset there begins a decline in low frequency electroencephalographic activity, ne2023-01-01T00:00:00Z2023 Jan2025-04-21T14:33:17.728Z2025-04-21T14:33:17.728ZS-EPMC98320043662727010.1038/s41467-022-35535-4