title: Stimulus-elicited behavior in rapid eye movement sleep without atonia.
abstract: Alert wakefulness (W) and rapid eye movement sleep (REM) are remarkably similar on several measures of brain activity, but 2 differences in REM are reduced sensory responsiveness and atonia in postural muscles. Pontine tegmental lesions create REM without atonia (REM-A), releasing motor behavior. In 9 cats, we studied the acoustic startle reflex (ASR), orienting (OR), and ponto-geniculo-occipital waves (PGOE) elicited by tones during W, REM, REM-A, and non-REM (NREM). OR occurred in W and REM-A, being most complete in cats with the most elaborate spontaneous behavior. ASR occurred in W, NREM, and REM-A in lesioned cats. In normal cats, ASR rarely appeared in NREM and REM. PGOE had similar characteristics in both groups. The similarity of REM to W is particularly obvious when cats lack motoneuronal inhibition.
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104-6045, USA.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Morrison
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Sanford
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Ross
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000818:Animals; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002415:Cats; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005829:Geniculate Bodies / Q000502:physiology; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D009129:Muscle Tonus / Q000502:physiology*; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology; D017286:Polysomnography; D011149:Pons / Q000502:physiology; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000502:physiology; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000502:physiology*; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology*