Can Acetylcholine make you dream?
Ashutosh Kumar Singh, Dhyuti Gupta
Sleep Science February 21, 2019 DOI: 10.5935/1984-0063.20190096 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Peer reviewed |
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| Key points | The text states that the Ascending Reticular Activating System, comprising the pedunculopontine tegmentum, laterodorsal tegmentum, locus coeruleus, and dorsal raphe nucleus, is required for consciousness, sleep-wake regulation, and attention. It further states that monoaminergic neurotransmitters are highly active during wakefulness and slow wave sleep but have very low activity during REM sleep, whereas cholinergic fibres are most active during REM sleep. |
Abstract
Wakefulness involves diffuse activation of cerebral cortex through Ascending Reticular Activating System (RAS), which connects midbrain and pons to cortex through the thalamus and hypothalamus. RAS is primarily composed of the pedunculopontine tegmentum (PPT) & laterodorsal tegmentum (LDT) of pons, locus coeruleus nucleus (LC) and dorsal raphe nucleus (RN) which involves all classic neurotransmitters 1 . Smooth functioning of RAS is required for the maintenance of consciousness, regulation of sleep-wake transitions and attention. Mono-aminergic neurotransmitters are considered to be highly active during wakefulness and slow wave sleep with very low activity during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, while cholinergic fibres are most active during REM sleep 2 .