DOM, a contaminant of some seafood was identified as the culprit in mussel poisoning. Intoxication was marked by neurological symptoms including seizures and behavioral symptoms. An increase in the release of glutamate and a decrease of the release of GABA are consistent with excitotoxic mechanism of DOM toxicity [3]. Results of the brain wave analysis demonstrated that FFT can simplify the conversion of raw EEG signals into a numerically useful form. An FFT analysis of the ECoG recorded from rats before and after i.p. dosing with DOM revealed high voltage activity (electrographic seizures) not accompanied initially by any behavioral seizures. The high dose (4.4 mg/kg) DOM group ECoG was elevated beginning 30 min postinjection, whereas in the low dose (2.2 mg/kg) group became elevated only after 110 min (Fig. (1)). Further division of the ECoG data into frequency bands indicated that the initial power increase was mainly at the lower frequencies delta and theta. Statistically significant elevations in delta and theta waves were observed both sooner and at a lower dose than size-related behaviors [4].
