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15 - Pontine-wave generator: a key player in REM sleep-dependent memory consolidation
- from Section III - Neuronal regulation
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- By Subimal Datta, Boston University School of Medicine
- Edited by Birendra N. Mallick, Jawaharlal Nehru University, S. R. Pandi-Perumal , Robert W. McCarley, Harvard University, Massachusetts, Adrian R. Morrison, University of Pennsylvania
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- Book:
- Rapid Eye Movement Sleep
- Published online:
- 07 September 2011
- Print publication:
- 14 July 2011, pp 140-150
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Summary
Summary
The data outlined in this chapter provides evidence to support a concept that the activation of pontine-wave (P-wave) generating neurons plays a critical role in long-term memory formation. The P-wave, generated by the phasic activation of glutamatergic neurons in the pons, is one of the most prominent phasic events of REM sleep. These P-wave generating neurons project to the hippocampus, amygdala, entorhinal cortex and many other regions of the brain known to be involved in cognitive processing. These P-wave generating glutamatergic neurons remain silent during wakefulness and slow-wave sleep (SWS), but during the transition from SWS to REM sleep and throughout REM sleep these neurons discharge high-frequency spike bursts in the background of tonically increased firing rates. Activation of these P-wave generating neurons increases glutamate release and activates postsynaptic N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors in the dorsal hippocampus. Activation of P-wave generating neurons increases phosphorylation of transcription factor cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) in the dorsal hippocampus and amygdala by activating intracellular protein kinase A (PKA). The P-wave generating neurons activation-dependent PKA-CREB phosphorylation increases the expression of activity-regulated cytoskeletal-associated protein (Arc), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and early growth response-1 (Egr-1) genes in the dorsal hippocampus and amygdala. The P-wave generator activation-induced increased activation of PKA and expression of pCREB, Arc, BDNF, and Egr-1 in the dorsal hippocampus is shown to be necessary for REM sleep-dependent memory processing. Continued research on P-wave generation and its functions may provide new advances in understanding memory and treating its disorders.
9 - The evolution of REM sleep
- Edited by Patrick McNamara, Boston University, Robert A. Barton, University of Durham, Charles L. Nunn
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- Book:
- Evolution of Sleep
- Published online:
- 10 March 2010
- Print publication:
- 12 October 2009, pp 197-217
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Summary
Introduction
Since the dawn of civilization, sleep has fascinated humankind. Myriad treatises and reviews, scientific and nonscientific, have been written in an attempt to explain the phenomenon of sleep, yet none has been comprehensive enough to gain general acceptance. It is now well established that sleep is neither a unitary nor a passive process. Intricate neuronal systems via complex mechanisms are responsible for controlling sleep. This chapter focuses on the evolution of rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep; for detailed information about other behavioral states, the reader is referred to several comprehensive reviews (Datta & Maclean, 2007; Jones, 2003; Mignot, 2004; Siegel, 2004; Steriade & McCarley, 2005). We begin with a brief description of the discovery of REM sleep and then describe the phylogeny and evolution of REM.
Discovery of REM sleep
The discovery of REM sleep, a major breakthrough, revolutionized the field of sleep research. The process that led to this discovery began in Kleitman's laboratory at the University of Chicago Medical School in 1953. Kleitman and his graduate student Eugene Aserinsky noticed rhythms in eye movements during sleep in humans and linked this to dreaming (Aserinsky & Kleitman, 1953, 1955). Subsequently, Dement and Kleitman (1957) characterized the electroencephalographic (EEG) activity during dreaming in humans, and later Dement (1958) recorded rapid eye movements during sleep in animals. These discoveries established the presence of the non-REM–REM sleep cycle.