“…This thalamocortical loop model is consistent with a number of experimental results on SW epilepsy: (1) thalamic and cortical neurons discharge in synchrony during the spike, whereas the wave is characterized by neuronal silence (Pollen, 1964;Steriade, 1974;Avoli et al, 1983;McLachlan et al, 1984;Buzsáki et al, 1990;Inoue et al, 1993), similar to the data in Figures 4 E and 8 A; (2) TC cell firing precedes that of other cell types, followed by cortical cells and RE cells (Inoue et al, 1993), similar to the phase relations of the present model (see Fig. 8 B); (3) SW patterns disappear after the removal of either the cortex (Avoli and Gloor, 1982) or the thalamus Vergnes and Marescaux, 1992), as also predicted by the present mechanism; (4) antagonizing thalamic GABA B receptors suppresses SW discharges (Liu et al, 1992), consistent with this model; (5) spindle oscillations can be transformed gradually into SW discharges (Kostopoulos et al, 1981a,b), as described in Figure 6.…”