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Cyclic and sleep-like spontaneous alternations of brain state under urethane anaesthesia.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Although the induction of behavioural unconsciousness during sleep and general anaesthesia has been shown to involve overlapping brain mechanisms, sleep involves cyclic fluctuations between different brain states known as active (paradoxical or rapid eye movement: REM) and quiet (slow-wave or non-REM: nREM) stages whereas commonly used general anaesthetics induce a unitary slow-wave brain state. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Long-duration, multi-site forebrain field recordings were performed in urethane-anaesthetized rats. A spontaneous and rhythmic alternation of brain state between activated and deactivated electroencephalographic (EEG) patterns was observed. Individual states and their transitions resembled the REM/nREM cycle of natural sleep in their EEG components, evolution, and time frame ( approximately 11 minute period). Other physiological variables such as muscular tone, respiration rate, and cardiac frequency also covaried with forebrain state in a manner identical to sleep. The brain mechanisms of state alternations under urethane also closely overlapped those of natural sleep in their sensitivity to cholinergic pharmacological agents and dependence upon activity in the basal forebrain nuclei that are the major source of forebrain acetylcholine. Lastly, stimulation of brainstem regions thought to pace state alternations in sleep transiently disrupted state alternations under urethane. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results suggest that urethane promotes a condition of behavioural unconsciousness that closely mimics the full spectrum of natural sleep. The use of urethane anaesthesia as a model system will facilitate mechanistic studies into sleep-like brain states and their alternations. In addition, it could also be exploited as a tool for the discovery of new molecular targets that are designed to promote sleep without compromising state alternations.

SUBMITTER: Clement EA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2289875 | biostudies-literature | 2008

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Cyclic and sleep-like spontaneous alternations of brain state under urethane anaesthesia.

Clement Elizabeth A EA Richard Alby A Thwaites Megan M Ailon Jonathan J Peters Steven S Dickson Clayton T CT

PloS one 20080416 4

<h4>Background</h4>Although the induction of behavioural unconsciousness during sleep and general anaesthesia has been shown to involve overlapping brain mechanisms, sleep involves cyclic fluctuations between different brain states known as active (paradoxical or rapid eye movement: REM) and quiet (slow-wave or non-REM: nREM) stages whereas commonly used general anaesthetics induce a unitary slow-wave brain state.<h4>Methodology/principal findings</h4>Long-duration, multi-site forebrain field re ...[more]

PMID: 18414674

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Project description:These studies address temporal changes in gene expression during spontaneous sleep and extended wakefulness in the mouse cerebral cortex, a neuronal target for processes that control sleep; and the hypothalamus, an important site of sleep regulatory processes. We determined these changes by comparing expression in sleeping animals sacrificed at different times during the lights on period, to that in animals sleep deprived and sacrificed at the same diurnal time. Experiment Overall Design: Experiments were performed on male mice (C57/BL6), 10 weeks of age Â±1 week. Animals were housed in a light/dark cycle of 12 hrs, in a pathogen free, temperature- and humidity-controlled room (22Â°C and 45-55%, respectively) with water available ad libitum. Food was accessible for 12 hrs only during the active period. Animals were subjected to 14 days of acclimatization during which a nighttime feeding pattern was established. This was done to avoid differential food intake between mice that were subsequently sleep deprived during the lights on period and those allowed to sleep. Mice were sacrificed following 3, 6, 9 and 12 hrs of total sleep deprivation (n=5 at each time point). Deprivation was initiated at lights-on, and performed through gentle handling. Sleeping animals, which were left undisturbed, were sacrificed at the same diurnal time points as sleep deprived mice (n=5 at each time point). An additional control group of mice were sacrificed at time zero, i.e., at the time of lights-on (n=5). All mice were behaviorally monitored using the AccuScan infrared monitoring system that detects movement when the mouse crosses electronic beams (Columbus Instruments). Mice were sacrificed by cervical dislocation. Brain sectioning was performed according to the mouse brain atlas of Franklin and Paxinos . The primary and secondary motor areas (M1 and M2) of the cerebral cortex and broadly defined regions and zones of the hypothalamus were sampled. RNA was isolated with Trizol (Invitrogen) and further purified using RNeasy columns (Qiagen) as per the manufacturer's instructions.

Dataset Information

Cyclic and sleep-like spontaneous alternations of brain state under urethane anaesthesia.

Publications

Cyclic and sleep-like spontaneous alternations of brain state under urethane anaesthesia.

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