TY  - JOUR
A1  - ,  
T1  - The anatomy of dreaming, and REM sleep
JO  - Eur. J. Anat.
SN  - 1136-4890
Y1  - 1999
VL  - 3
SP  - 163
EP  - 175
UR  - http://www.eurjanat.com/web/paper.php?id=99030163
KW  - 4 aminobutyric acid
KW  - acetylcholine
KW  - AMPA receptor
KW  - dopamine
KW  - glutamic acid
KW  - histamine
KW  - muscarinic receptor
KW  - noradrenalin
KW  - serotonin
KW  - brain blood flow
KW  - brain stem
KW  - circadian rhythm
KW  - dreaming
KW  - electroencephalography
KW  - human
KW  - positron emission tomography
KW  - REM sleep
KW  - reticular formation
KW  - review
KW  - sleep time
KW  - sleep waking cycle
KW  - suprachiasmatic nucleus
N2  - Most neuroscientists today agree that the richest and best structured dreams occur during REM sleep. In fact, the structures responsible for REM sleep, the anatomy of which is controversial, are necessary for normal dreams. The pontine tegmentum structures with a definite role in the control of different events characterizing REM sleep (EEG activation, atonia, PGO activity and rapid eye movements) are precisely located. However, the exact site of the structure that can simultaneously trigger all the manifestations of REM sleep, with all its bioelectrical and behavioral manifestations, is still controversial. We have demonstrated that the ventral part of the oral pontine reticular nucleus is the nodal link, acting like an orchestra conductor, of the extense neuronal network that harmoniously generates and maintains REM sleep. Here, a systematic multidisciplinary study of the ventral part of the oral pontine reticular nucleus borders, connectivity, neuronal and synaptic morphology, and chemical structure, at light and electronmicroscopic levels, as well as functional studies of unitary recordings, and electrical and chemical stimulation of in vitro and in vivo preparations are reported. All our data illustrate the complex morpho-functional organization of the neuronal network responsible for the generation and maintenance of REM sleep. The final part of this article summarizes the current literature on PET imaging studies of REM sleep, which coordinate well with our functional anatomic results and with the notion that during REM sleep, the structures in the cerebral cortex responsible for the different aspects of declarative memory consolidation (medial orbitofrontal cortex, hippocampus, parahippocampal cortex, etc.) and the association cortex areas most directly related with these structures are activated.
ER  -