Tufik S, Troncone L R, Braz S, Silva-Filho A R, Neumann B G
Department of Psychobiology, Escola Paulista de Medicina, São Paulo, Brazil.
Eur J Pharmacol. 1987 Aug 11;140(2):215-9. doi: 10.1016/0014-2999(87)90808-9.
Yawning behavior was used to evaluate the sensitivity of presynaptic dopamine receptors and postsynaptic acetylcholine receptors of normal and REM sleep-deprived (REMSD) rats. The results show a lowering of the dose-response curve obtained with apomorphine and pilocarpine, as well as a shift to the right in the curve obtained with physostigmine. These results suggest that REMSD induces subsensitization of presynaptic dopamine receptors and/or postsynaptic acetylcholine receptors with different characteristics related to the mechanism of action of the cholinomimetic agent employed.