LABORATORY AND BRANCH RESEARCH REVIEWS 99morphology and diagnostic significance of the focal (i.e., temporal)
epileptic seizure; 2) spontaneous and induced brain site activation
where spindling occurred by chronic depth electrography; 3) the
mechanism of transition from interictal spiking foci into ictal seizure
discharges; 4) the mechanism for the bilateral influence of the non
specific system of the thalamus; and 5) the nature of EEG discharges
considered to be typical electrographic signs of epileptic lesions.^4
When the chief of the Section on Clinical Neurophysiology in the
Medical Neurology Branch, Paul O. Chatfield, resigned for health rea
sons in early 1956, the section was transferred to the Electroencepha
lography Branch.^5 It retained its name but remained without a chief
until José del Castillo was appointed as the new section chief in the fall
of 1957.^6 With this new section on board, the branch’s research expanded
to include studying the mechanisms of excitation and conduction of
nervous impulses in myelinated fibers and the mechanisms of synaptic
transmission, especially at pre-synaptic terminals, and the determination
of substances liberated there.^7
The branch also collaborated in a substantial way with other units,
particularly with the Surgical Neurology Branch, on the effects of
hypothermia and blood pressure from cortical exposure during surgical
treatment of epileptic patients or during hypophysectomies, with the
Laboratory of Biophysics on nerve function, and with the Laboratory of
Psychology at the NIMH on distinguishing focal from non-focal epileptic
patients based on their performance on the Continuous Performance Test.^8
José del Castillo, Ph.D.
Courtesy of the National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke