Location and anatomical connections of a paradoxical sleep induction site in the cat ventral pontine tegmentum.
The brainstem mechanisms for the generation of paradoxical sleep are under considerable debate. Previous experiments in cats have demonstrated that injections of the cholinergic agonist carbachol into the oral pontine tegmentum elicit paradoxical sleep behaviour and its polygraphic correlates. The different results on the pontine structures that mediate this effect do not agree. We report here that limited microinjections of a carbachol solution into the ventral part of the oral pontine reticular nucleus in the cat induce, with a short latency, a dramatic, long-lasting increase in paradoxical sleep. Moreover, neuronal tracing experiments show that this pontine site is connected with brain structures responsible for the different bioelectric events of paradoxical sleep. These two facts suggest that the ventral part of the oral pontine reticular nucleus is a nodal link in the neuronal network underlying paradoxical sleep mechanisms.
Reinoso-Suárez
F
F
Departamento de Morfología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain.
De Andrés
I
I
Rodrigo-Angulo
M L
ML
Rodríguez-Veiga
E
E
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D002217:Carbachol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D002415:Cats; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase; D008125:Locus Coeruleus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008845:Microinjections; D009129:Muscle Tonus / Q000187:drug effects; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000187:drug effects; D017286:Polysomnography / Q000187:drug effects; D011149:Pons / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D012154:Reticular Formation / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D018998:Wheat Germ Agglutinin-Horseradish Peroxidase Conjugate; D014909:Wheat Germ Agglutinins
D018998:Wheat Germ Agglutinin-Horseradish Peroxidase Conjugate; D014909:Wheat Germ Agglutinins; D002217:Carbachol; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase