Apomorphine does not mimic the effects of REM-sleep deprivation on cortical spreading depression

The propagation of cortical spreading depression (SD) and the incidence of "spontaneous" SD were enhanced in rats after rapid-eye-movement sleep deprivation (REMD) as compared to control animals. Pseudo-deprived rats were similar to controls, suggesting that the facilitatory effect on SD is due to REMD rather than to the stress accompanying deprivation. In control rats, apomorphine (0.5 to 8 mg/kg) failed to reproduce the effects of REMD and also failed to enhance the REMD effects in deprived rats, suggesting that the dopaminergic system does not play an important role in propagation of cortical SD.