Post-traumatic spontaneous epileptiform activities (SEAs) can be recorded in rat hippocampal slices at 36.5 ± 0.5 degrees Celsius (Tian et al., Program No.891.16, 2002 SfN Abstract). This novel observation at the rodents’ physiological temperature might be a phenomenon that only exists at such a relatively high temperature, whereas most investigators make recordings in hippocampal slices at lower temperatures (32 to 34 degrees). This study was designed to investigate whether post-traumatic SEAs can be recorded in rat hippocampal slices at a lower temperature and whether temperature affects post-traumatic SEAs. Anaesthetized adult male rats were subjected to moderate lateral fluid-percussion (F-P) brain injury. Horizontal hippocampal slices were obtained from rats at 1-day post F-P brain injury. Extracellular recordings were performed in CA3c of slices from the hippocampus ipsilateral to the F-P brain injury. SEAs were recorded in 64 ± 15% (mean ± SD) of tested slices from 5 rats at 36.5 ± 0.5 degrees, and ...