A quantitative study of the brainstem cholinergic projections to the ventral part of the oral pontine reticular nucleus (REM sleep induction site) in the cat

The ventral part of the cat oral pontine reticular nucleus (vRPO) is the site in which microinjections of small dose and volume of cholinergic agonists produce long-lasting rapid eye movement sleep with short latency. The present study determined the precise location and proportions of the cholinergic brainstem neuronal population that projects to the vRPO using a double-labeling method that combines the neuronal tracer horseradish peroxidase–wheat germ agglutinin with choline acetyltransferase immunocytochemistry in cats. Our results show that 88.9% of the double-labeled neurons in the brainstem were located, noticeably bilaterally, in the cholinergic structures of the pontine tegmentum. These neurons occupied not only the pedunculopontine and laterodorsal tegmental nuclei, which have been described to project to other pontine tegmentum structures, but also the locus ceruleus complex principally the locus ceruleus and peri-, and the parabrachial nuclei. Most double-labeled neurons were found in the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus and locus ceruleus complex and, much less abundantly, in the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus and the parabrachial nuclei. The proportions of these neurons among all choline acetyltransferase positive neurons within each structure were highest in the locus ceruleus complex, followed in descending order by the pedunculopontine and laterodorsal tegmental nuclei and then, the parabrachial nuclei. The remaining 11.1% of double-labeled neurons were found bilaterally in other cholinergic brainstem structures: around the oculomotor, facial and masticatory nuclei, the caudal pontine tegmentum and the praepositus hypoglossi nucleus. The disperse origins of the cholinergic neurons projecting to the vRPO, in addition to the abundant noncholinergic afferents to this nucleus may indicate that cholinergic stimulation is not the only or even the most decisive event in the generation of REM sleep.     

Long-term social isolation in the rat induces opposite changes in binding to alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenoceptors in the brain and vas deferens

Rats isolated at the time of calcification of the incisors show, after 14-18 months of social deprivation, an increased number of alpha 1-adrenoceptors labeled with [3H]WB 4101, both in the striatum and in the vas deferens, as well as a decreased number of alpha 2-adrenoceptors labeled with [3H]-clonidine in the vas deferens. Social isolation does not, however, modify the density of [3H]clonidine binding sites in the cerebral cortex. The functional state of alpha-adrenoreceptors in the vas deferens from isolated rats appears to correlate with the binding studies since the isolated tissue is hypersensitive to the contractile effect of exogenous noradrenaline and subsensitive to the inhibitory effect of clonidine on the electrically stimulated preparation.     

Corticospinal excitability during laughter: implications for cataplexy and the comparison with REM sleep atonia

Cataplexy is usually seen as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep atonia occurring at an inopportune moment. REM sleep atonia is the result of postsynaptic inhibition, i.e. inhibition of alpha motor neurones. Although this may explain the suppression of H-reflexes during REM sleep, cataplexy and laughter, it is not the only explanation. Presynaptic inhibition, in which afferent impulses are prevented from reaching motor neurones, is an alternative. Testing H-reflexes and magnetic-evoked potentials (MEPs) helps to tell them apart: in postsynaptic inhibition MEPs and H-reflexes change in tandem, while H-reflexes may decrease independent of MEPs with other inhibition modes. We studied motor inhibition during laughter, the strongest trigger for cataplexy. H-reflexes were evoked every 2 s in the soleus muscle in 10 healthy subjects watching comical video fragments. MEPs were evoked when H-reflexes decreased during laughter, and, as a control, when subjects did not laugh. Pairs of MEPs and the immediately preceding H-reflexes were studied. Compared with the control condition, laughter caused mean MEP area to increase by 60% (P=0.006) and mean H-reflex amplitude to decrease by 33% (P=0.008). This pattern proves that postsynaptic inhibition cannot have been the sole influence. The findings do not prove which mechanisms are involved; one possibility is that the decrease in H-reflex amplitude was the result of presynaptic inhibition, and that cortical and/or spinal facilitation accounted for increased MEPs. Regardless, the pattern differs fundamentally from the reported mechanism of REM sleep atonia. Existing scanty data on cataplexy suggest a pattern of H-reflexes and MEPs similar to that during laughter, but this needs further study.     

Spontaneous phasic activity in the brain: differences between waves in lateral geniculate and central lateral nuclei across sleep states

SUMMARY  Ponto-geniculo-occipital (PGO) waves are spontaneously-occurring macropotential waveforms recorded in the pons, lateral geniculate body (LGB) and occipital cortex. PGO waves mark the onset and course of rapid eye movement sleep (REM). PGO-like waves can be recorded in several brain areas including the thalamic central lateral nucleus (CL). Alerting stimuli elicit PGO waves (PGO_E) from LGB and waves from CL (CL_E) in all behavioural states. We compared spontaneous activity in LGB and CL across behavioral states to examine the relationship of CL waves to PGO waves. Spontaneous waves in LGB and CL may occur concurrently or separately in all states. Although REM is marked by a high level of LGB PGO activity, CL waves are rare. Frequencies of CL and LGB waves are similar in non-REM (NREM) although the waves do not necessarily occur at the same time. These findings suggest that the widespread phasic activity recorded throughout the brain in sleep cannot be assumed to be a non-specific unitary phenomenon propagated from a single brainstem generator.     

Effect of unilateral somatosensory stimulation prior to sleep on the sleep EEG in humans

SUMMARY  The hypothesis that local activation of brain regions during wakefulness affects the EEG recorded from these regions during sleep was tested by applying vibratory stimuli to one hand prior to sleep. Eight subjects slept in the laboratory for five consecutive nights. During a 6-h period prior to night 3, either the left or the right hand was vibrated intermittently (20 min on-8 min off), while prior to night 5 the same treatment was applied to the contralateral hand. The sleep EEG was recorded from frontal, central, parietal and occipital derivations and subjected to spectral analysis. The interhemispheric asymmetry index (IAI) was calculated for spectral power in nonREM sleep in the frequency range 0.25-25.0 Hz for 0.5-Hz or 1-Hz bins. In the first hour of sleep following right-hand stimulation, the IAI of the central derivation was increased relative to baseline, which corresponds to a shift of power towards the left hemisphere. This effect was most prominent in the delta range, was limited to the first hour of sleep and was restricted to the central derivation situated over the somatosensory cortex. No significant changes were observed following left-hand stimulation. Although the effect was small, it is consistent with the hypothesis that the activation of specific neuronal populations during wakefulness may have repercussions on their electrical activity pattern during subsequent sleep.     

Hypothalamic self-stimulation in the female rat: effects of oestrus and food deprivation.

Natural oestrus (147 cycles) had no overall effect in a longitudinal study of self-stimulation in a group of rats with hypothalamic electrodes (n = 20), though some individual animals showed significant increases in response rate at oestrus or at dioestrus. Animals were significantly more likely to show peak rates at prooestrus or oestrus if their electrodes were located in hypothalamic feeding areas; the effects in these rats were therefore probably indirect and non-sexual, caused by the decrease in food intake that accompanies oestrus. In ovariectomized rats, however, self-stimulation of feeding areas was usually unaffected by oestradiol injections, and increases in response rate reported after oestradiol injections in ovariectomized animals may therefore be a direct effect of the hormone; replicated study of the only animal showing unequivocal oestrogen-sensitive enhancement of self-stimulation showed that the effect was specific to oestrogenic (and not androgenic) steroids, and that the minimum effective dose was within the physiological range. These findings indicate both direct and indirect effects of oestrus on hypothalamic self-stimulation.     

The Reliability of Arousal Threshold During Sleep

Thirty-five subjects from two independent studies were awakened at EEG-defined periods during the night with 1000 Hz ascending tone series. Awakenings were made five to eight times per night during stage 2, stage 4, or REM sleep over a series of nights in good and poor sleepers. Reliability was assessed within stage, within night, between stages, and between nights. Good and poor sleepers did not differ in either depth of sleep or reliability of arousal threshold and were thus pooled in the analyses. From night to night, the most consistency was seen in stage 4 (r=.74), although REM reliability (r?₁= .49) and stage 2 reliability (r?₁= .50 and r?₁= .69 in the two respective studies) estimates were also greater than zero. Early sleep onset and morning arousals were more variable. Reliability estimates on arousal thresholds taken within the same night for stage 2 were r= .64 and r?₁= .77 for the two studies and r= .96 for REM. The depth of sleep was not correlated with awake auditory threshold. It was concluded that five or six carefully placed arousals could give a good estimate of an individual's usual arousal threshold.     

Effect of early outdoor experience on the activity of wild and semi-domestic deermice

The gross activity of wild and semi-domestic strains of prairie deermice was measured in two kinds of novel test apparatus (tilt-cage and activity wheel). Differences in strain activity were not obtained in either apparatus. Activity was significantly decreased in both strains by early experience in the field and by rearing wild genotype subjects in large laboratory cages. It was suggested that differential early sensory experience associated with both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the early rearing environment may be responsible for the treatment effect. Whereas no daily changes in activity were noted in the tilt-cages, activity in the wheels was sipnificantly higher on day 1 for all groups. In contrast to recent literature, wheel running activity did not change with total water deprivation.     

多参数信息融合实现非脑电的睡眠结构分期

目前临床睡眠分析的主要手段是多导睡眠图（Polysomnograph,PSG）,用仪器记录被测者整晚的脑电、眼动电和颏肌电等生理参数,计算机进行自动睡眠分期,再由技术人员依据国际标准进行校正.几十年来PSG保持着睡眠分期金标准的地位.提出在不使用脑电的条件下,利用较易获得的心动周期、呼吸、体动等基本生理参数,提取其中与睡眠过程及其变化有关的规律和信息,建立知识规则库,采用不确定推理的证据理论进行多参数睡眠信息融合计算,实现睡眠结构分期.50余例与PSG对照试验结果表明：醒睡的平均符合率达90%以上,基本睡眠结构的平均符合率达75%以上,证明该技术达到了应用的要求.