Effects of Frontal Lobectomy upon Electrically Induced Convulsions and Electronarcosis

Introduction  Chemical agents have been used in the past to study the sensitivity to convulsions of animals with various cerebral ablations. Drake, Seguin, and Stavraky¹ have shown that after unilateral frontal lobectomy cats become more responsive to pentylenetetrazol and to other convulsant agents, and Seguin and Stavraky² have found that these animals are also more susceptible to the action of depressant agents, such as pentobarbital sodium and phenobarbital sodium.In the light of these findings and the paucity of literature pertaining to the sensitivity of frontal lobectomized animals to electroshocking procedures, the present study was undertaken. The study was divided into two parts: one dealing with electroshock and the other with electronarcosis. The convulsability thresholds and the picture of convulsive manifestations in control and operative animals were compared in the case of electroshock, and the narcotic levels and behavior of the two groups of animals were studied in