Cortical spreading depression

Common card · No. 283195

Cortical spreading depression (CSD) or spreading depolarization (SD) is a wave of electrophysiological hyperactivity followed by a wave of inhibition. Spreading depolarization describes a phenomenon characterized by the appearance of depolarization waves of the neurons and neuroglia that propagates across the cortex at a velocity of 1.5–9.5 mm/min. CSD can be induced by hypoxia and may cause neuronal death in energy-compromised tissue. CSD has also been implicated in migraine aura, where the condition is assumed to ascend from well-nourished tissue; this type of CSD is typically benign, although patients may have a higher chance of developing a stroke. Spreading depolarization within brainstem tissues regulating functions crucial for life has been implicated in sudden unexpected death in epilepsy, by way of ion channel mutations such as those seen in Dravet syndrome, a particularly severe form of childhood epilepsy that appears to carry an unusually high risk of SUDEP (sudden unexpected...

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