Kainate receptors: a novel mechanism in paradoxical (REM) sleep generation.
Application of kainate to the peri-locus coeruleus alpha (peri-LC alpha) resulted in a marked increase in paradoxical sleep (PS). This effect was completely blocked by specific non-NMDA receptor antagonists, but not by selective NMDA receptor antagonists. Kainate was 10 times more potent than AMPA, and their site of action was confined to the peri-LC alpha. This study is the first to show that excitatory amino acids play an important role in PS generation via the activation of kainate receptors which are located in the peri-LC alpha of the mediodorsal pontine tegmentum.
Onoe
H
H
Department of Neuroscience, Osaka Bioscience Institute, Japan.
Sakai
K
K
D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D007608:Kainic Acid / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018092:Kainic Acid Receptors / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000187:drug effects*; D013681:Tegmentum Mesencephali / Q000187:drug effects*
D007608:Kainic Acid; D018092:Kainic Acid Receptors