Distinct Roles of Rodent Thalamus and Corpus Callosum in Seizure Generalization

OBJECTIVE: Bilateral synchronous cortical activity occurs during sleep, attention, and seizures. Canonical models place the thalamus at the center of bilateral cortical synchronization because it generates bilateral sleep spindle oscillations and primarily generalized absence seizures. However, classical studies suggest that the corpus callosum mediates bilateral cortical synchronization. METHODS: We mapped the spread of right frontal lobe‐onset, focal to bilateral seizures in mice and modified it using chemo and optogenetic suppression of motor thalamic nucleus and corpus callosotomy. RESULTS: Seizures from the right cortex spread faster to the left cortex than to the left thalamus. The 2 thalami have minimal monosynaptic commissural connections compared to the massive commissure corpus callosum. Chemogenetic and closed‐loop optogenetic inhibition of the right ventrolateral thalamic nucleus did not alter inter‐hemispheric seizure spread. However, anterior callosotomy delayed bilateral seizure oscillations. INTERPRETATION: Thalamocortical oscillations amplify focal onset motor seizures, and corpus callosum spreads them bilaterally. ANN NEUROL 2022;91:682–696