Neurons in Paradoxical Sleep and Motivated Behavior

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Abstract
Single-cell recordings were taken with electrodes permanently implanted in unrestrained rats during normal sleep, paradoxical sleep, quiet awake, and highly motivated awake periods. In most areas, neuronal activity increased when normal sleep changed to paradoxical sleep. The hypothalamus showed a significantly greater increase than most other areas. The hippocampus differed strikingly from all other areas by showing a decrement in all cases. The average firing rates in paradoxical sleep exceeded those of the quiet awake state as well as those of normal sleep. Comparison of paradoxical sleep with motivated behavior illustrated that changes in brain activity during paradoxical sleep were related to anatomically specifiable groupings, but no such differentiation appeared in motivated behavior.