Differences in the effects of medial and lateral preoptic lesions on thermoregulation and sleep in rats

The effects of the destruction of the medial preoptic area and the lateral preoptic area with N-methyl-d-aspartic acid on sleep-wakefulness, brain temperature and thermoregulation were studied in two groups of male Wistar rats. Electroencephalogram, electrooculogram and electromyogram, along with brain temperature, were recorded for 3 days, prior to the destruction of the medial preoptic area and the lateral preoptic area, and on the 7th and 21st days after the destruction of these areas. The thermoregulatory capacity of the rats was assessed by recording their brain temperature when they were exposed to severe cold (5+/-1 degrees C) and heat (37+/-1 degrees C) before and after the lesion. Though sleep was decreased after the destruction of both the medial preoptic area and the lateral preoptic area, paradoxical sleep was reduced only by the destruction of the medial preoptic area. Decrease in sleep after the medial preoptic area lesion was brought about by a decrease in the duration of the slow wave sleep episodes and the frequency of paradoxical sleep episodes. Decrease in sleep after the lateral preoptic area lesion was brought about by a decrease in the frequency of slow wave sleep episodes. There was a significant increase in brain temperature after the medial preoptic area lesion but not after the lateral preoptic area lesion. The rats with lesion in the medial preoptic area showed deficits in thermoregulation on exposure to cold, while those with the lateral preoptic area lesion showed deficits in heat defense ability. The present findings suggest that the medial preoptic area and the lateral preoptic area regulate sleep by different modalities and that there is an anatomical segregation of heat and cold defense functions within the basal forebrain.