Journal article
Dual Mechanisms of Twitching During Sleep in Neonatal Rats
Behavioral neuroscience, Vol.108(6), pp.1196-1202
12/1994
DOI: 10.1037/0735-7044.108.6.1196
PMID: 7893412
Abstract
Twitches of the limbs during REM sleep in adult mammals result from descending motor activation from the brainstem. In contrast, many spontaneous movements in embryos appear similar to REM-related twitches and result from the local firing of spinal motor neurons. To determine which mechanism produces twitches in neonates, we anlayzed twitching in 5- and 8-day-old rat pups that had spinal cords transected in the lower thoracic region. This transection separated motor units controlling forelimb movements from motor units controlling hindlimb movements. Spinal transection did not significantly affect the amount of forelimb twitching. In contrast, the amount of hindlimb twitching in transected pups was reduced by only 35%-50%. Given that hindlimb twitching was not eliminated by spinal transection, it is concluded that there are 2 independent mechanisms producing twitches at these ages.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Dual Mechanisms of Twitching During Sleep in Neonatal Rats
- Creators
- Mark S Blumberg - Department of Psychology, University of IowaDennis E Lucas - Neuroscience Program, University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Behavioral neuroscience, Vol.108(6), pp.1196-1202
- DOI
- 10.1037/0735-7044.108.6.1196
- PMID
- 7893412
- NLM abbreviation
- Behav Neurosci
- ISSN
- 0735-7044
- eISSN
- 1939-0084
- Publisher
- American Psychological Association
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 12/1994
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Biology
- Record Identifier
- 9984002363602771
Metrics
14 Record Views