The disconnected brain stem does not support rapid eye movement sleep rebound following selective deprivation

To determine whether the brain stem can independently support the processes of rapid eye movement sleep rebound and pressure that follow deprivation.

Cats with a brain-stem separation from the forebrain were compared to intact subjects on their response to rapid eye movement sleep deprivation.

Eight adult mongrel cats of both sexes.

All cats had electrodes implanted for polygraphic recordings, and 4 subjects sustained a mesencephalic transection. Weeks later, a 24-hour undisturbed sleep-wakefulness recording session was performed, and the next day, a similar session started with a 6-hour deprivation period, which was followed by 18 hours of undisturbed sleep.

Deprivation produced 90.1% and 87.8 % losses of rapid eye movement sleep time in intact and decerebrate cats, respectively. However, no significant changes in non-rapid eye movement sleep, drowsiness, or waking time percentages were seen in either group of animals when comparing the 6-hour time blocks of the deprivation and baseline sessions, indicating selective rapid eye movement sleep deprivation. During the 6-hour block following deprivation, rapid eye movement sleep time increased a significant 34.6% in intact cats while, in contrast, there was no rapid eye movement sleep rebound in decerebrate animals. The number of aborted episodes of rapid eye movement sleep during deprivation exceeded the number of episodes during the same period of the baseline day by 3 and 5 folds in intact and decerebrate cats, respectively, indicating an increase in rapid eye movement sleep pressure.

Rebound in rapid eye movement sleep after deprivation cannot be sustained by the brain stem alone; in contrast, rapid eye movement sleep pressure persisted in the decerebrate cat, demonstrating that this process does not depend on descending forebrain influences. This indicates that rebound and pressure are 2 different components of the recovery process after rapid eye movement sleep deprivation and that, as such, are likely controlled by different mechanisms.