Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 2 January 1998:
Vol. 279. no. 5347, pp. 91 - 95
DOI: 10.1126/science.279.5347.91
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Dissociated Pattern of Activity in Visual Cortices and Their Projections During Human Rapid Eye Movement Sleep

Allen R. Braun, * Thomas J. Balkin, Nancy J. Wesensten, Fuad Gwadry, Richard E. Carson, Mary Varga, Paul Baldwin, Gregory Belenky, Peter Herscovitch

Positron emission tomography was used to measure cerebral activity and to evaluate regional interrelationships within visual cortices and their projections during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in human subjects. REM sleep was associated with selective activation of extrastriate visual cortices, particularly within the ventral processing stream, and an unexpected attenuation of activity in the primary visual cortex; increases in regional cerebral blood flow in extrastriate areas were significantly correlated with decreases in the striate cortex. Extrastriate activity was also associated with concomitant activation of limbic and paralimbic regions, but with a marked reduction of activity in frontal association areas including lateral orbital and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices. This pattern suggests a model for brain mechanisms subserving REM sleep where visual association cortices and their paralimbic projections may operate as a closed system dissociated from the regions at either end of the visual hierarchy that mediate interactions with the external world.

A. R. Braun, F. Gwadry, M. Varga, Language Section, Voice Speech and Language Branch, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
T. J. Balkin, N. J. Wesensten, G. Belenky, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Division of Neuropsychiatry, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, DC, USA.
R. E. Carson, P. Baldwin, P. Herscovitch, PET Imaging Section, Clinical Center, Building 10, Room 1C401, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: abraun{at}pop.nidcd.nih.gov

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Synaptic Plasticity from Visual Cortex to Hippocampus: Systems Integration in Spatial Information Processing.
M. Tsanov and D. Manahan-Vaughan (2008)
Neuroscientist 14, 584-597
   Abstract »    PDF »
Primary Mental Expression: Freud, Klein, and Beyond.
M. Robbins (2008)
J Am Psychoanal Assoc 56, 177-202
   Abstract »    PDF »
Restoration of normal motor control in Parkinson's disease during REM sleep.
V. C. De Cock, M. Vidailhet, S. Leu, A. Texeira, E. Apartis, A. Elbaz, E. Roze, J. C. Willer, J. P. Derenne, Y. Agid, et al. (2007)
Brain 130, 450-456
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Does the arousal system contribute to near death experience?.
K. R. Nelson, M. Mattingly, S. A. Lee, and F. A. Schmitt (2006)
Neurology 66, 1003-1009
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Brain activation and hypothalamic functional connectivity during human non-rapid eye movement sleep: an EEG/fMRI study.
C. Kaufmann, R. Wehrle, T. C. Wetter, F. Holsboer, D. P. Auer, T. Pollmacher, and M. Czisch (2006)
Brain 129, 655-667
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
MEG Tomography of Human Cortex and Brainstem Activity in Waking and REM Sleep Saccades.
A. A. Ioannides, M. Corsi-Cabrera, P. B.C. Fenwick, Y. del Rio Portilla, N. A. Laskaris, A. Khurshudyan, D. Theofilou, T. Shibata, S. Uchida, T. Nakabayashi, et al. (2004)
Cereb Cortex 14, 56-72
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Limbic System Function and Dream Content in University Students.
N. D.J. Peterson, P. G. Henke, and Z. Hayes (2002)
J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 14, 283-288
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Neuropsychiatry of Paranormal Experiences.
M. A. Persinger (2001)
J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 13, 515-524
   Full Text »    PDF »
The Dream in Contemporary Psychiatry.
M. F. Reiser (2001)
Am J Psychiatry 158, 351-359
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Topography of EEG Dynamics After Sleep Deprivation in Mice.
R. Huber, T. Deboer, and I. Tobler (2000)
J Neurophysiol 84, 1888-1893
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Hallucinations, REM sleep, and Parkinson's disease: A medical hypothesis.
I. Arnulf, A.-M. Bonnet, P. Damier, B.-P. Bejjani, D. Seilhean, J.-P. Derenne, and Y. Agid (2000)
Neurology 55, 281-288
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Moving Illusory Contours Activate Primary Visual Cortex: an fMRI Study.
M. Seghier, M. Dojat, C. Delon-Martin, C. Rubin, J. Warnking, C. Segebarth, and J. Bullier (2000)
Cereb Cortex 10, 663-670
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sleep, Memory Maintenance, and Mental Disorders.
J. L. Kavanau (2000)
J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 12, 199-208
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Silent functional magnetic resonance imaging demonstrates focal activation in rapid eye movement sleep.
K.-O. Lovblad, R. Thomas, P. M. Jakob, T. Scammell, C. Bassetti, M. Griswold, J. Ives, J. Matheson, R. R. Edelman, and S. Warach (1999)
Neurology 53, 2193
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Interactions of Prefrontal Cortex in Relation to Awareness in Sensory Learning.
A. R. McIntosh, M. N. Rajah, and N. J. Lobaugh (1999)
Science 284, 1531-1533
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Consciousness and Complexity.
G. Tononi and G. M. Edelman (1998)
Science 282, 1846-1851
   Abstract »    Full Text »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)