LEGACY ARTICLES

The discovery and initial characterization of spreading depolarizations, and the related phenomenon of spreading depression, were made by experimentalists in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Many of the observations made are being verified today as being important to human brain injury, and the mechanisms of spreading depolarizations originally hypothesized are still relevant and hotly debated. Here we link some of the key articles from this legacy era in spreading depolarization/depression research.

Leao, A.A.P. Spreading depression of activity in the cerebral cortex. J Neurophysiol 7, 359-390 (1944).

Leao, A.A.P. Further observations on the spreading depression of activity in the cerebral cortex. J Neurophysiol 10, 409-414 (1947).

Van Harreveld, A. & Stamm, J.S. Spreading cortical convulsions and depressions. J Neurophysiol 16, 352-366 (1953).

Van Harreveld A, Stamm JS. Cerebral asphyxiation and spreading cortical depression. Am J Physiol. 173(1):171-175 (1953).

Grafstein B. Mechanism of spreading cortical depression. J Neurophysiol. 19(2):154-171 (1956).

Marshall WH. Spreading cortical depression of Leao. Physiological Reviews 39(2): 239-79 (1959).