Lack of presaccadic positivity before rapid eye movements in human REM sleep.
Differences between oculomotor control of rapid eye movements (REMs) in REM sleep and that of saccades in wakefulness were examined electrophysiologically in human adults. Fourteen healthy young volunteers participated in the study. Brain potentials were recorded from the scalp and time-locked to the onsets of saccades and REMs during a visually triggered saccade task and natural nocturnal sleep. In wakefulness, presaccadic positivity (PSP) appeared at centro-parietal sites starting about 150 ms before saccades. In REM sleep, no PSP was found but a slow negative potential (pre-REM negativity: PRN) appeared at the prefrontal sites. The findings suggest that the generation of REMs does not involve the cortical process reflected in the PSP but is associated with a different neural process reflected in the PRN.
Abe
Takashi
T
Department of Behavioral Sciences, Faculty of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-7-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8521 Japan.
Ogawa
Keiko
K
Nittono
Hiroshi
H
Hori
Tadao
T
D000328:Adult; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology*; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000502:physiology*; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology