Stimulation of pontine reticular formation suppresses firing of serotonergic neurones in the dorsal raphe

Abstract

THERE is ample evidence1–10 that both the pontine reticular formation (PRF; including the nucleus reticularis pontis oralis and caudalis in the terminology of Olszewski and Baxter11 or the gigantocellular tegmental field in Berman's12 terminology) and the brainstem raphe nuclei are involved in sleep processes. We report here that PRF-stimulation suppresses firing in raphe neurones. These results have implications which bear directly on current concepts about the cellular mechanisms involved in the control of the sleep cycle.