Effect of REM sleep deprivation on molecular forms of acetylcholinesterase in rats.

Since REM sleep deprivation was reported to increase the activity of acetylcholinesterase, an attempt was made to investigate whether the different forms of enzyme could be affected selectively. The flower pot method was used for deprivation and suitable control experiments were conducted. The bound and the soluble forms, if affected would show an increase or a decrease, respectively, on REM deprivation. The former is affected first in the pons while the latter in the medulla. The findings support the pontomedullary cholinergic mechanism for the generation of REM sleep. Though there may be a possibility of conversion of the free to the bound form, the increase in the latter was more than the decrease in the former.