SPIKE-DOME COMPLEX IN THE HUMAN ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM

Abstract

THE SPIKE-DOME complex is a primary electric correlate of the clinical convulsive disorders. Because of its clinical importance, its striking contour, and its remarkable paroxysmal quality, the spike-dome discharge has been extensively studied in man* and, as far as is applicable, in experimental animals.¹ This communication treats of the physical characteristics and the time relations of these complexes as derived from the intact scalp of man. Many complexes were recorded by relatively high-speed photography of cathode ray traces, obtained through conventional (A.C.) amplification in order to obtain sufficient resolution of the complexes to allow time measurements within 2 msec. Other complexes were recorded by low-speed direct-writing oscillographs with direct-coupled (D.C.) amplifiers. METHOD Recordings were taken from more than 100 patients with various types of clinical epilepsy for the purposes of this investigation; these subjects ranged from 4½ to 29 years of age. The sex distribution was predominantly female. In