BILATERAL ELECTRODERMAL ACTIVITY DURING SLEEP AND WAKING IN THE CAT

Electrodermal activity (EDA) was recorded as skin potential responses (SPRs), on the hindpaws of cats during waking and sleep. SPRs recorded on both paws showed an overall parallelism during all stages of vigil ance. SPRs on both paws significantly decreased in amplitude and in fr equency from wakefulness to sleep. Most SPRs were synchronous but show ed bilateral differences larger than 0.1 mV. However, this asymmetry d id not show any significant variation as a function of sleep stages. E lectrical stimulation of the reticular central tegmental field at leve ls below the thresholds for behavioral and cortical arousal thresholds evoked SPRs during wakefulness and all stages of sleep. Bilateral dif ferences between evoked SPR amplitudes did not show significant variat ions as a function of the stages of vigilance. Moreover, the bilateral asymmetry of the evoked SPRs was significantly lower than that of the spontaneous SPRs. These results are discussed in relation to the vari ations in bilateral EDA recorded in humans during waking and sleep; th e influence of central and peripheral factors on EDA laterality is als o discussed.