title: Physiological sleep myoclonus in baboons.
abstract: Physiological sleep myoclonus (sleep onset myoclonus and myoclonus during paradoxical sleep) was recorded from the tails of 6 baboons (2 Papio hamadryas and 4 Papio papio) and its relationship with spontaneously occurring EEG paroxysmal discharges was studied. It was observed that during light slow wave sleep tail myoclonus (sleep onset myoclonus) was almost always associated with EEG paroxysmal discharges predominating in the fronto-rolandic cortex. During deep slow wave sleep the number of EEG paroxysmal discharges decreased and tail myoclonus disappeared. In contrast, during paradoxical sleep tail myoclonus became more frequent even in the absence of cortical paroxysmal discharges. Though at present we do not know whether sleep onset myoclonus is triggered or not by cortical paroxysmal discharges, we propose that sleep myoclonus (sleep onset myoclonus and myoclonus of paradoxical sleep) is independent of these discharges but that, at a given moment, the two phenomena may be coupled by a hypothetical subcortical pacemaker.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cepeda
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Naquet
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D002081:Buttocks; D004569:Electroencephalography; D008027:Light; D009207:Myoclonus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010215:Papio / Q000502:physiology*; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000502:physiology