Reserpine abolishes movement-correlated atropine-resistant neocortical low voltage fast activity.

Following a large dose of atropine, rats display large amplitude slow waves in the neocortex during immobility, tremor, tooth-chattering and face-washing (Type II behavior) but display low voltage fast activity (LVFA) during walking, struggling, postural changes and head movement (Type I behavior). Rats treated with a large dose of reserpine usually continue to display LVFA during immobility as well as during movement although large amplitude slow waves are present more frequently than normal. A combination of reserpine and atropine abolishes all LVFA even during intense sensory stimulation or electrical stimulation of the reticular formation. Chlorpromazine, lysergic acid diethylamide, methysergide, phenoxybenzamine, pimozide, promethazine, propranolol and trifluoperazine do not have this effect when combined with atropine. In rats treated with nialamide prior to reserpine and atropine, LVFA continues to occur in association with Type I behavior just as in rats given atropine alone. It is proposed that the occurrence of LVFA in the neocortex is determined by two distinct reticulocortical systems. A cholinergic system produces all LVFA occurring during Type II behavior and a second system, dependent on a monoamine, produces LVFA in association with Type I behavior. The view that LVFA is a correlation of arousal or the sleep-waking cycle is criticized.