BackgroundThe electroencephalogram (EEG) is a widely used laboratory technique in rodent models of epilepsy, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and other neurological diseases accompanied by seizures. Obtaining prolonged continuous EEG tracings over weeks to months is essential to adequately answer research questions related to the chronobiology of seizure emergence, and to the effect of potential novel treatment strategies. Current EEG recording methods include wired and the more recent but very costly wireless technologies. Wired continuous long-term EEG in rodents remains the mainstay approach but is often technically challenging due to the notorious frequent EEG cable disconnections from the rodent’s head, and to poor signal-to-noise ratio especially when simultaneously monitoring multiple animals. Premature EEG cable disconnections and cable movement-related artifacts result from the animal’s natural mobility, and subsequent tension on the EEG wires, as well as from potential vigorous and frequent seizures. These challenges are often accompanied by injuries to the scalp, and result in early terminations of costly experiments.ResultsHere we describe an enhanced customized swivel-balance EEG-cage system that allows tension-free rat mobility. The cage setup markedly improves the safety and longevity of current existing wired continuous long-term EEG. Prevention of EEG cable detachments is further enhanced by a special attention to surgical electrode anchoring to the skull. In addition to mechanically preventing premature disconnections, the detailed stepwise approach to the electrical shielding, wiring and grounding required for artifact-free high signal-to-noise ratio recordings is also included. The successful application of our EEG cage system in various rat models of brain insults and epilepsy is described with illustrative high quality tracings of seizures and electrographic patterns obtained during continuous and simultaneous monitoring of multiple rats early and up to 3 months post-brain insult.ConclusionOur simple-to-implement key modifications to the EEG cage setup allow the safe acquisition of substantial high quality wired EEG data without resorting to the still costly wireless technologies.

中文翻译：

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幼年和成年大鼠有线连续长期 EEG 监测的增强设置：应用于癫痫和其他疾病

背景脑电图 (EEG) 是一种广泛用于癫痫、创伤性脑损伤 (TBI) 和其他伴有癫痫发作的神经系统疾病的啮齿动物模型的实验室技术。获得数周到数月的长时间连续 EEG 追踪对于充分回答与癫痫发作的时间生物学相关的研究问题以及潜在的新型治疗策略的影响至关重要。当前的 EEG 记录方法包括有线和更新但非常昂贵的无线技术。啮齿类动物的有线连续长期 EEG 仍然是主要方法，但由于臭名昭著的 EEG 电缆与啮齿动物头部的频繁断开以及较差的信噪比，尤其是在同时监测多只动物时，通常在技术上具有挑战性。过早的 EEG 电缆断开和电缆运动相关的伪影是由于动物的自然活动性和随后 EEG 线上的张力，以及潜在的剧烈和频繁癫痫发作造成的。这些挑战往往伴随着头皮受伤，并导致昂贵的实验提前终止。结果我们在这里描述了一个增强的定制旋转平衡 EEG 笼系统，允许无张力大鼠移动。笼式设置显着提高了当前现有有线连续长期 EEG 的安全性和寿命。通过特别注意固定在颅骨上的手术电极，进一步加强了对 EEG 电缆脱离的预防。除了机械地防止过早断开外，电气屏蔽的详细逐步方法，还包括无伪影高信噪比录音所需的接线和接地。我们的 EEG 笼系统在各种脑损伤和癫痫大鼠模型中的成功应用被描述为在脑损伤后早期和长达 3 个月的持续和同时监测期间获得的癫痫发作和电图模式的高质量描记图。对 EEG 笼设置的简单实施关键修改允许安全获取大量高质量有线 EEG 数据，而无需求助于仍然昂贵的无线技术。