The Neural Control of REM Sleep

Abstract

Shortly after the publication of Dement’s paper on REM sleep in the cat, and for years following, Jouvet and a number of other workers demonstrated REM sleep in a variety of animal species (Jouvet et al., 1959; Jouvet and Valatx, 1962; Ruckebusch, 1962; Adey et al., 1963; Faure et al., 1963; Roldan et al., 1963; Hartmann et al., 1967; Shurley et al., 1969; Cicala et al., 1970; Schlehuber et al., 1974; Latash and Galina, 1975; Allison et al., 1977; J. M. Siegel et al., 1996, 1999). They showed REM sleep to be present in all mammalian species studied as well as in some other vertebrates, such as birds, but in very limited amounts. The discovery of REM sleep in animals led to two important developments. One was the recognition that this stage of sleep in humans is not just a curio associated with human dreaming and Freudian dynamics, but is a universal phenomenon in mammals. As such, REM sleep acquired the status of a legitimate topic of biological study-no longer relegated to the fringes of the psychoanalytical couch or turbaned dream analysts. The second development that followed the demonstration of REM sleep in animals was that the door was now open to invasive manipulations to explore the anatomical, physiological, and biochemical basis of REM sleep. With a very active research program including all these approaches, Jouvet soon became a dominant figure in sleep research.