The startle reflex and PGO spikes

Bowker, Robert M.; Morrison, Adrian R.

doi:10.1016/0006-8993(76)90586-2

Cited by 119 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The relationship between eye movements and PGO burst activity has been confirmed by a number of studies in animals, 8,25,29 and EMs have shown results consistent with what would be expected from PGO burst activity in humans. 30,32,33 Human studies employing external stimuli to induce eye movements (and inferred PGO burst activity) have enabled the indirect investigation of the phenomenology of PGO activity related to dream reporting.…”

supporting

confidence: 61%

“…29,43,44 Previous studies by Conduit et al 32 and Fedyszyn and Conduit 33 employing external auditory stimuli to phenomenologically study EMs and inferred PGO burst activity have employed single tones of increasing intensities (up to 110 dB) during stage 2 and REM sleep to induce eye movements and PGO activity. The induction of PGO burst activity in these experiments could therefore be interpreted as part of a orienting response, evidenced by the increase in arousal during stimulus presentation and the induction of what could be considered an orienting saccade.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Auditory Inhibition of Rapid Eye Movements and Dream Recall from REM Sleep

2009

Sleep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although there is considerable support for each view, there are methodological and theoretical limitations to both that remain to be resolved before it will be clear which process (if indeed either or both) underlies dream reporting on awakening from sleep.Cortical arousal during sleep has been identified by the appearance of α frequency (8-12 Hz) EEG activity and has been noted by a number of researchers to be associated with mentation reporting.1-6,10-13 α Activity is high at sleep onset when hypnopompic images occur.5 Similarly, although sleep terrors occur during slow wave sleep (SWS), EEG indicates increased arousal to that of a wake pattern.10 Light sleepers with increased α activity across all sleep stages show an equal frequency of mentation reporting from REM and NREM sleep.1 Tyson et al 11proposed dreaming to be a function of cerebral activation. They noted that during REM periods of higher α activity preceding awakening, mentation reports were more vivid and bizarre than those with lower α activity, as judged by an independent rater. Antrobus compared NREM and REM mentation and found that differences in mentation were a function of report length. 2He concluded that increased cortical activation characteristic of REM sleep resulted in lengthy mentation reports. In further investigating the role of cortical arousal in dreaming, Antrobus et al.12 found an increase in visual mentation reports associated with increased arousal characteristic of both REM sleep and the rising phase of the diurnal sleep cycle. They noted the diurnal rise in arousal accounted for 30% of the difference in cortical arousal between REM and NREM sleep. In a subsequent study by Fosse et al, 13 229 REM and 165 NREM reports collected at home were scored for the presence of hallucinations and directed thinking. These data showed that as the night progressed, NREM showed an increase in hallucinations; this was so pronounced that late night NREM reports were described as indistinguishable from early REM reports. This led these researchers to conclude that "…as the night progresses, NREM approaches the neurocognitive characteristics of REM (p. 302)." These findings support the notion of dreaming as a function of cerebral activation as the night progresses.The "REM-on dream-on" model proposed by Solms 6 is consistent with cortical arousal-based theories of dreaming. Using evidence from lesion 14-17 and pharmacological 18,19 studies, Solms proposed dreaming was a result of arousal of dopaminergic forebrain processes dissociable from the REM sleep stage. More specifically he identified the activation of the mesocortical/mesolimbic dopaminergic system and cortical back projection as responsible for the generation of dreaming. 6 The relationship between increased cortical arousal and dream recall has recently been disputed by a number of researchers, who have noted decreased cortical activation is conducive to higher dream recall. [20][21][22] Recall from stage 2 and REM sleep has been found to be associated with lower α power; There is debat...

show abstract

supporting

confidence: 61%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Auditory Inhibition of Rapid Eye Movements and Dream Recall from REM Sleep

2009

Sleep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Yet, the nature of the information transferred by PGO waves from the peribrachial area to the rostral structures remains unknown. PGO waves have been implicated in various nonexclusive processes such as intervention in dream generation (Hobson and McCarley, 1977), alerting reaction to external stimuli or internal signals (Bowker and Morrison, 1976), sensorimotor integration through the transmission of an efferent copy of ocular movements to the visual system (Callaway et al, 1987), and facilitation of brain plasticity (Datta, 1999a). The latter hypothesis is supported by a body of arguments.…”

Section: Functional Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Generation of Rapid Eye Movements during Paradoxical Sleep in Humans

et al. 2001

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Interference with serotonin metabolism by administration of reserpine or para-chlorphenylalanine leads to continual occurrence of PGO spikes (23). Indeed, it was the remark that cats under the influence of para-chlorphenylalanine seemed to orient or be startled with appearance of each PGO spike (12) that led us to formulate the hypothesis that PGO spikes were a sign of activation of the startle reflex network (5,35) [later generalized to alerting (6)]. Single-unit recordings of dorsal raphe neurons have show~n that here is a cessation of firing just prior to a PGO spike in the transition period and that the neurons stop firi~ng altogether during an episode of paradoxical sleep (30,61).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It therefore appeares that the Type I1 spikes represent activity in the vestibulo-oculomotor system activated internally during paradoxical sleep since rapid eye movements continue after bilateral vestibular nerve section (48). Type I spikes seem a more fundamental part of the paradoxical sleep state, and it is these individual spikes which are evoked by auditory or tactile stimuli during both slow wave and paradoxical sleep (5,35).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships Between Phenomena of Paradoxical Sleep and their Counterparts in Wakefulness

Ar¹

1980

The Warsaw Colloquium on Instrumental Conditioning and Brain Research

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Our studies suggest that para'doxical sleep is a state in which the brainstem is in a functional mode normally associated with presentations of novel stimuli. Furthermore, the combination of atonia and an internal state of activation indicates sustained activity of a brainstem mechanism designed to dampen responses to sudden, novel stimuli in wakefulness lest the animal over react and run blindly into danger prior to stimulus analysis. This con~lusi~on stems from two sets of data. Studies of large-amplitude waves, which characteristically occur spontaneously just prior to and during paradoxical sleep, have demonstrated that the waves are signs of alerting. These waves, termed ponto-geniculooccipital (PGO) spikes, can be induced during both slow wave and paradoxical sleep by extennal stimuli at a threshold below actual arousal. Whenever cats are confronted with novel stimuli during wakefulness, eye movement potentials, which are recorded from the same sites as PGO spikes but differ from them in several characteristics, assume all the characteristics of PGO spikes. These observations indicate that the central nervous system during paradoxical sleep is in a "peculiar" state of activation which is not behaviorally expressed. Other experiments have focused on the muscle atonia of paradoxical sleep. Small, bilateral dorsolateral pontine tegmental lesions create the dramatic phenomenon of paradoxical sleep without atonia which is characterized as follows: After slow wave sleep, when paradoxical sleep with muscle atonia would

show abstract

The startle reflex and PGO spikes

Cited by 119 publications

References 15 publications

Auditory Inhibition of Rapid Eye Movements and Dream Recall from REM Sleep

Auditory Inhibition of Rapid Eye Movements and Dream Recall from REM Sleep

Generation of Rapid Eye Movements during Paradoxical Sleep in Humans

Relationships Between Phenomena of Paradoxical Sleep and their Counterparts in Wakefulness

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About