Epileptic discharges induced by pentylenetetrazol: changes of shape of dendrites.

The effect of the epileptogenic drug pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) on the shape of dendrites of identified snail neurons was investigated. Comparison between control and test preparations revealed that changes in the shape of dendrites appeared after PTZ treatment: (i) the number of dendrites, especially filopodia-like structures, increased; (ii) separations and involutions of dendrites occurred. Both of these changes of dendrites were found either separately or in combination.