Elsevier

Experimental Neurology

Volume 10, Issue 5, November 1964, Pages 418-424
Experimental Neurology

Muscle tonus in human subjects during sleep and dreaming

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Abstract

It has been shown that dreams occur during EEG sleep stage I-rapid eye movement periods, and that simultaneously the tonus of some neck muscles decreases. To determine the activity of other somatic muscle groups, the tonic electrical activity of twenty-nine muscle areas was recorded from cutaneous bipolar electrodes on sleeping human subjects. The electroencephalogram and the eye movements were recorded simultaneously. Indeed, tonus of most head and neck muscles studied decreased with the onset of EEG stage I-rapid eye movement sleep. Yet, trunk and limb muscles exhibited stable levels of tonic activity throughout the night with no change of level associated with rapid eye movement periods.

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2

Mr. Jacobson submitted this material as part of his M.S. thesis, January, 1964.

3

Dr. Lehmann is a Fellow of the German Academic Exchange Service.

1

The results of this investigation were presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for the Psychophysiological Study of Sleep, Palo Alto, California, March 27, 1964.

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