Effect of camphor essential oil on rat cerebral cortex activity as manifested by fractal dimension changes

Abstract

The aim of our study was to investigate the effect of camphor essential oil on rat cerebral cortex activity by fractal analysis. Fractal dimension (FD) values of the parietal electrocortical activity were calculated before and after intraperitoneal administration of camphor essential oil (450-675 mu l/kg) in anesthetized rats. Camphor oil induced seizure-like activity with single and multiple spiking of high amplitudes in the parietal electrocorticogram and occasional clonic limb convulsions. The FD values of cortical activity after camphor oil administration increased on the average. Only FD values of ictal ECoG sequences were lower than those before camphor oil administration.