Effects of medial preoptic area lesions on sleep and wakefulness in unrestrained rats

Bilateral radiofrequency lesions of the medial preoptic area (MPOA) in unrestrained male rats resulted in a significant decrease in slow wave sleep (SWS) in the light period throughout two postoperative weeks, although the night-active pattern of circadian rhythms was little affected. Both diurnal and nocturnal paradoxical sleep (PS) gradually increased after the lesions. Within one week, however, the daily amount of total sleep (SWS + PS) was recovered to the normal level, since the loss of diurnal SWS was compensated by an increase in nocturnal sleep at the expense of wakefulness. The MPOA lesions brought about a transient elevation of brain temperature, which lasted only for the diurnal period of the day of lesioning. It is speculated that the MPOA plays a definite role in the passage of sleep-regulatory information, especially concerning the circadian distribution of sleep.