The effect of midbrain reticular stimulation upon perigeniculate neurons activity during different states of the sleep-waking cycle in the cat.
Electrical stimulation of the mesencephalic reticular formation in chronic cats induced state-dependent effects on spontaneous firing of perigeniculate neurons. Perigeniculate neurons fired at lower rates during slow wave sleep than during wakefulness of paradoxical sleep. The stimulation caused a firing decrease in slow wave sleep; an effect which faded during wakefulness and paradoxical sleep and was superseded by a firing increase during periods of eye movements in 30% of the neurons. The responsiveness of perigeniculate neurons to optic tract and visual cortex stimulation either remained unchanged or was enhanced during the reticular induced firing changes.
D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D005829:Geniculate Bodies / Q000502:physiology*; D007395:Interneurons / Q000502:physiology; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000502:physiology*; D009433:Neural Inhibition; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000502:physiology; D011149:Pons / Q000502:physiology; D012154:Reticular Formation / Q000502:physiology*; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000502:physiology*; D013787:Thalamic Nuclei / Q000502:physiology; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology*