Two pts in coma are presented with burst suppression patterns in their EEG. The burst pattern repeated itself with such invariance throughout the entire tracing that artifact was at first seriously considered. These EEGs are presented to make clear the extreme degree of stereotypy possible from the human brain. In one of these pts, the activity first appeared from the left temporal area and then seemed to spread to the other regions.
ChatrianG.E., BergaminiL., DondeyM., KlassD.W., Lennox-BuchtalM., and PetersenI., A glossary of terms most commonly used by clinical electroencephal-ographers, Electroenceph. Clin. Neurophysiol., 37:538–548, 1974.
2.
KooiK.A., TuckerR.P., and MarshallR.E., Fundamentals of Electroencephalography, 2nd Ed., Harper & Row, Hagerstown MD., 1978.
3.
BauerG., Coma and cerebral death, In: NiedermeyerE., and Lopes de SilvaF., eds. Electroencephalography, Urbanand Schwarzenberg, Baltimore, pp. 325–337, 1982.
4.
WhitteridgeD., and WalshE.G., The physiological basis of the electroencephalogram, In: HillD., and ParrG., Electroencephalography, Macmillan, New York, pp, 99–146,1963.
5.
Fischer-WilliamsM., Burst-suppression activity as an indication of undercut cortex, Electroenceph. Clin. Neurophysiol., 15:723–724, 1963.
6.
GloorP., KalabayG., and GiardN., The electroencephalogram in diffuse encephalopathies: Electroencephalographic correlates of gray and white matter lesions, Brain, 91:779–802, 1968.
7.
MarshallW.H., Spreading depression of Leão, Physiol. Rev., 39:239–279, 1959.
8.
HughesJ.R., and MazurowskiJ.A., Studies on the supracallosal mesial cortex of unanesthetized conscious mammals, Electroenceph. Clin. Neurophysiol., 16:561–574, 1964.
9.
DaubeJ.R., Nerve conduction studies. In: AminoffM.J., ed. Electrodiagnosis in Clinical Neurology, Churchill-Livingstone, New York, pp. 229–264, 1980.
10.
BurnsB.D., The Uncertain Nervous System, Edward Arnold Ltd. London, 1968.
11.
BindmanL, and LippoldO., The Neurophysiology of the Cerebral Cortex, Edward Arnold Ltd. London, 1981.
12.
CraggB.G., and HamlynL.H., Action potentials of the pyramidal neurones in the hippocampus of the rabbit, J. Physiol., 129:608–627, 1955.
13.
AdrianE.D., The spread of activity in the cerebral cortex, J. Physiol., 88:127–161, 1936.
