About cookies on this site Our websites require some cookies to function properly (required). In addition, other cookies may be used with your consent to analyze site usage, improve the user experience and for advertising. For more information, please review your options. By visiting our website, you agree to our processing of information as described in IBM’sprivacy statement. To provide a smooth navigation, your cookie preferences will be shared across the IBM web domains listed here.
Publication
Annals of Neurology
Paper
Virus‐induced electrotonic coupling: Hypothesis on the mechanism of periodic EEG discharges in Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease
Abstract
Experimental evidence and computer modeling indicate that periodic synchronous cellular depolarizing bursts (interictal spikes) arise when the balance between recurrent inhibition and local excitatory coupling is altered. Such a mechanism may explain the generalized periodic sharp waves that characterize the electroencephalogram of many patients with Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease. In Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease, fusions of neuronal processes, particularly dendrites, may lead to abnormal electrotonic coupling between cells, providing the basis for powerful excitatory interaction whereby large neuronal aggregates burst in near synchrony. Cortical synchronous discharges would give rise to sharp waves in the electroencephalogram, whereas similar discharges in brainstem, spinal cord, or elsewhere could lead to myoclonic jerks. Copyright © 1981 American Neurological Association