Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol 50, Issue 2 272-278, Copyright © 1981 by American Physiological Society

ARTICLES

Correlation studies of individual variation in susceptibility to various components of HPNS in mice

R. W. Brauer, R. W. Beaver and H. W. Gillen

Individual convulsion threshold pressures were determined in mice exposed successively to type I and type II convulsions of the high-pressure neurological syndrome (HPNS), as well as in others exposed, in successive compressions, to type I convulsions under diverse conditions of replication of compression rate. Correlation analyses of the results showed the following degrees of correlation of individual convulsion-threshold pressures: type I with type II-negligible (r2 less than equal to 0.2); type I with type I at the same compression rate-closely correlated (r2 greater than or equal to 0.8); type I with type I at a different compression rate-negligible (r2 less than or equal to 0.2). Individual susceptibility to HPNS (type I) convulsions thus is a stable characteristic of individual seizures vary independently of one another. Likewise, the magnitude of the individual compression rate effect varies independently of intrinsic individual susceptibility to type I HPNS seizures. The results support the view that the HPNS is a composite entity, define constraints on personnel selection, and provide a basis for estimating the efficacy of various selection strategies.