PSY 241 Lecture 13

• Fire during NREM sleep and to some degree in REM
• ^{Median - just before NREM (induce)}
• ^{Ventrolateral - during NREM sleep (maintain)}
• Lesion these area and you get reduced sleep, and sleep that does occur is light and fragmented
• Use GABA as their neurotransmitter and project to the wakefulness and arousal areas
• Drugs that treat insomnia work by enhancing GABA

• Promote REM sleep
• Neurons in laterodorsal and pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus
• Drugs that enhance acetylcholine elicit intense and long-lasting REM sleep
• Drugs that block acetylcholine reduce the duration of REM sleep

Loss of norepinephrine and serotonin intervention of motor neurons produces the atonia (lack of stimulation) in the muscles seen during REM sleep

• In the sublaterodorsal nucleus
• Active during stage
• Produces muscle atonia (lack of stimulation in muscles)
• Lesions to the sublaterodorsal nucleus reduce atonia and REM sleep

• Mixed with Orexin neurons of leteral hypothalamus are neurons that produce MCH and GABA
• Inhibitory effect like Orexin
• Neurons fire at high rate during REM and inactive during wakefulness
• MCH antagonists (block MCH) decrease REM
• Inhibit arousal and wakefulness

• Byproduct of ATP breakdown
• High cellular activity - lot of ATP - high levels of Adenosine
• Reduce activity of wake-promoting neurons
• Caffeine, blocks adenosine, promots wakefulness
• Activity of brain

• Intracellular signaling peptides releasing by immune cells, neurons, and astrocytes
• Include interleukin-1 Beta and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (promote sleep)
• Body fights immune system

• Process S - sleep pressure
• Process C - sleep/wake circadian drive
• S High and C Low = Sleep

• Restoration
• Learning and Memory
• Evolutionary

• Growth hormones during deep sleep
• Protein synthesis during REM Sleep
• Neurotransmitter systems are replenished

• Impaired cognitive ability and inability to recognize impairment
• Depression
• Irritability
• Decreases alertness
• Prolonged sleep deprivation also results in dizziness, tremors, and hallucinations

Depriving people of non-REM sleep results in impairments of verbal learning memorizing a list of words

Depriving people of REM sleep results in impairment of learned motor skills

REM is important for memory storage or consolidation

Antidepressants reduce REM sleep and people do not have learning or memory problems

Dreams represent the brain's effort to make sense of spare and distorted information

• Wake people during NonREM sleep have positive emotions
• Wake people during REM sleep have negative emotions

Amygdala is very active during REM sleep - handles negative emotions

Antidepressants decrease REM sleep

• Inadequate sleep
• ^{Taking a long time to fall asleep}
• ^{Frequent waking during the night}
• ^{Awakening before the desired time}

• Increase anxiety and depression
• Drug Aids: Ambien, Lunesta, Sonata, Halcion, Rozerum (GABA A agonist)

Impaired ability to breathe while sleeping due to obstruction of respiratory passages by muscle spasms or lack of muscle tone or by CS failing to initiate breathing

• Due to:
• Genetics
• Old age due to deterioration of brain mechanisms that regulate breathing
• Obesity

Frequent periods of sleepiness during the day

• 4 main symptoms:
• Gradual/sudden attacks of sudden sleepiness during the day
• Cataplexy - lack of muscle tone or muscle weakness while person remains awake
• ^{Triggered by strong emotions}
• Sleep paralysis - an inability to move while falling asleep or waking up
• Hypnagogic hallucinations - dreamlike experiences that the person has trouble distinguishing from reality

• Problem with Orexin neurotransmission
• Reduced CSF levels of orexin

Ritalin - increase dopamine and norepinephrine

• Repeated involuntary movement of legs and arms
• Leg kicks ever 20-30 seconds for minutes, hours, mostly during NonREM sleep
• Tranquilizers help suppress movement

• More vigorously during REM periods
• Acting out dreams
• Associated with older individuals with brain diseases (ex: Parkinson's Disease)
• Damage of cells in Pons that control large muscle movements via spinal cord

• Intense anxiety from which a person awakens screaming in terror
• More common in children
• During non-REM sleep

• Common and harmless
• During REM and non-REM

• Runs in families and occurs in children
• Can be due to sleep deprivation or drugs like alcohol
• Occurs during stage 3 (slow wave sleep)
• Waking them is NOT dangerous