Neurons in the gigantocellular field of the pontine reticular formation (PGF) fire at very slow rates during waking (W) and slow wave sleep (SWS) and increase their discharge as much as 100 times during selective segments of the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep cycle8,1L Hobson has proposed that these neurons form a center for the control of the various phasic and/or tonic events that are specifi...

GABAergic receptors are involved in different physiological and behavioural functions of the organism. Its inhibitory function and the broad distribution of GABA receptors in the central nervous system makes it worthwhile to investigate the role of GABA on sleep. Negative results were earlier found with the GABAA agonist muscimol (Mendelson and Martin, 1990), despite the fact that benzodiazepin...

Cholinergic projections from the basal forebrain and brainstem are thought to play important roles in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and arousal. Using transgenic mice in which channelrhdopsin-2 is selectively expressed in cholinergic neurons, we show that optical stimulation of cholinergic inputs to the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) activates local GABAergic neurons to promote sleep and pro...

To determine quantitative REM sleep muscle tone in men and women without REM sleep behavior disorder, we quantitatively analyzed REM sleep phasic and tonic muscle activity, phasic muscle burst duration, and automated REM atonia index in submentalis and anterior tibialis muscles in 25 men and 25 women without REM sleep behavior disorder. Men showed significantly higher anterior tibialis phasic m...

The early literature suggests that hypoventilation in infants with congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CHS) is less severe during rapid eye movement (REM) than during non-REM (NREM) sleep. However, this supposition has not been rigorously tested, and subjects older than infancy have not been studied. Given the differences in anatomy, physiology, and REM sleep distribution between infan...

In selective REM sleep deprivation (SRSD), the occurrence of stage REM is repeatedly interrupted by short awakenings. Typically, the interventions aggregate in clusters resembling the REM episodes in undisturbed sleep. This salient phenomenon can easily be explained if the nonREM-REM sleep process is continued during the periods of forced wakefulness. However, earlier studies have alternatively...

Objective: Rapid Eye Movement (REM) rebound is a polysomnographic phenomenon where a substantial increase in REM sleep is noted in patients with untreated obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) when first undergoing continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) titration. The objectives of this study are to determine: 1) the percentage of patients experiencing REM rebound during CPAP titrations, 2) to quan...

Sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) in neurons projecting to skeletal muscle blood vessels increases during rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, substantially exceeding SNA of non-REM (NREM) sleep and quiet wakefulness (QW). Similar SNA increases to cerebral blood vessels may regulate the cerebral circulation in REM sleep, but this is unknown. We hypothesized that cerebral SNA increases during phasic R...

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is an important component of the natural sleep/wake cycle, yet the mechanisms that regulate REM sleep remain incompletely understood. Cholinergic neurons in the mesopontine tegmentum have been implicated in REM sleep regulation, but lesions of this area have had varying effects on REM sleep. Therefore, this study aimed to clarify the role of cholinergic neurons in...