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Sleep: Control of the paradoxical episode?
1EEG Laboratory, Department of Neurosciences M-008, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, Calif. 92093 U.S.A.
Neuroscience Letters
|July 17, 2009
Summary
Cooling the midbrain tegmentum induces sleep-like brain activity. Parachlorophenylalanine pretreatment transforms this cooling into a paradoxical sleep episode in cats.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Sleep Science
- Neurophysiology
Background:
- Midbrain tegmentum cooling is known to induce high voltage EEG rhythms and behavioral depression.
- The role of serotonin in sleep regulation is complex and not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of midbrain tegmentum cooling on sleep patterns.
- To determine if serotonin depletion influences the response to midbrain cooling.
Main Methods:
- Cats were subjected to cooling of the medial aspects of the midbrain tegmentum.
- Some cats were pretreated with parachlorophenylalanine (PCPA) to deplete serotonin.
- Electroencephalogram (EEG), electrooculogram (EOG), and electromyogram (EMG) were monitored.
Main Results:
- Cooling the midbrain tegmentum alone resulted in high voltage EEG rhythms and behavioral depression.
- In PCPA-pretreated cats, the same cooling procedure induced a state meeting the criteria for paradoxical sleep, including tonic and phasic EEG, EOG, and EMG activity.
Conclusions:
- Midbrain tegmentum cooling can induce specific sleep-related phenomena.
- Serotonin depletion, induced by parachlorophenylalanine, is critical for transforming midbrain cooling-induced depression into paradoxical sleep.
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