Abstract
Summary
In newborn, 1-month-old and adult rats, susceptibility to maximal electro-shock seizures has been correlated with distribution of water and electrolyte concentrations and total carbon dioxide content of the cerebrum. Seizure susceptibility is greatest at one month of age. It is related inversely to the ratio of extracellular to cellular sodium and directly to the ratio of cellular and extracellular brain water. The relation to distribution of potassium is inconstant. The newborn guinea pig, an animal more mature than the rat at birth, corresponds more closely to the older and adult rat, both with regard to seizure susceptibility and brain water and electrolyte metabolism. Failure to induce convulsions in the newborn rat is associated with a high level of total carbon dioxide in the brain. Development of seizure susceptibility in older rats is related to a rise in brain carbonic anhydrase activity and to a reciprocal fall in total carbon dioxide content of the brain.
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