Figure 1.

Seizures cause acute dendritic injury in mice in vivo. Dendrites of cortical neurons expressing green-fluorescent protein were imaged directly by multiphoton microscopy in vivo under control conditions and before and immediately after seizures. In control (saline-injected) mice or mice given phenobarbital with kainate (Pb+KA) to suppress seizures, there were minimal structural changes in dendrites and spines over a several hour period. In mice given kainate to induce seizures, seizures for 30 minutes caused acute, evolving changes in dendrites, depending on the severity (stage) of the seizures. In severe stage 5 seizures, there was often an immediate beading of dendrites with complete loss of spines. The dendritic beading would usually resolve within two hours of seizure termination with an accompanying partial recovery of spines, but a residual, longer-term loss of spines persisted. Modified with permission from [75]; Copyright 2007 by the Society for Neuroscience.