ACCELERATION OF EEG THETA-WAVE PRECEDES THE PHASIC SURGE OF ARTERIAL-PRESSURE DURING REM-SLEEP IN THE RAT

We investigated temporal relationships among EEG theta frequency, eye movement (EM) burst and phasic surge of arterial pressure (AP) during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in six rats. Changes in EEG theta frequ ency, EM number, mean AP (MAP) and heart rate (HR) during 1 s bins wer e obtained with reference to the onset of the EM bursts. The accelerat ion of EEG theta frequency preceded both the EM burst and the phasic i ncrease of AP. The increase of MAP was closely correlated with the the ta frequency but not the EM number during the period of EM burst. The possible involvement of the limbic system for the generation of phasic surge in AP during REM sleep is discussed.