[Dynamics of unit activity of the gigantocellular tegmental field in the sleep-wakefulness cycle of rats].

Computer analysis and statistical processing of the unit activity showed that the majority of neurons (65.2%) in the gigantocellular tegmental field were discharging with high frequency during active wakefulness and paradoxical sleep as compared to slow-wave sleep in unrestrained rats. 11.6% of the neurons revealed an inverse pattern of activity: they discharged more intensively during slow-wave sleep, their firing rate decreasing during active wakefulness and paradoxical sleep. Some neurons (23.2%) were found which fired intensively during active wakefulness, their firing rate decreasing both in slow-wave and paradoxical sleep. Involvement of the gigantocellular tegmental field in the neurophysiological mechanisms of phases and stages of the sleep-wakefulness cycle is discussed.