The Thalamus and Seizures

It seems natural that the thalamus, with its strong reciprocal connections to all areas of the cortex and its inherent tendency to fire rhythmic bursts of action potentials, would form an important part of networks underlying epileptic seizures. A dialogue on the relative importance of the thalamus and cortex in the pathogenesis of seizures, which began in the 1800s with John Hughlings Jackson, has included such luminaries as Penfield, Lennox, and Jasper, and it continues today. EARLY CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS Based on careful observations of the marked symmetry of clinical findings and sudden loss of consciousness in patients undergoing petit mal and grand mal seizures, John Hughlings Jackson 1 wrote in