Influence of ambient temperature on sleep, body temperature, and thermoregulation after phentolamine in rats
Kent, Stephen Patric Terrance
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Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/21606
Description
Title
Influence of ambient temperature on sleep, body temperature, and thermoregulation after phentolamine in rats
Author(s)
Kent, Stephen Patric Terrance
Issue Date
1990
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Satinoff, Evelyn
Department of Study
Psychology
Discipline
Psychology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Biology, Neuroscience
Psychology, Psychobiology
Language
eng
Abstract
The monoaminergic theory of sleep proposed that norepinephrine is responsible for the maintenance of rapid-eye-movement sleep (REMS). This theory is partially based on decreases in REMS after administration of noradrenergic antagonists. However, a reduction in REMS may not necessarily be due to a drug's effects on basic sleep mechanisms. Most noradrenergic agents, including all those that have been used in sleep studies, also affect body temperature (Tb). The effects of thermal stress on sleep, especially REMS, are large. Phentolamine (PHEN), a nonselective $\alpha$-adrenoceptor antagonist, both decreases REMS and causes a dose and ambient temperature (Ta)-dependent drop in Tb. This dissertation contains 3 experiments, the first of which examined the correlation between changes in Tb and sleep after PHEN at various Ta's. Changes in sleep were highly correlated with changes in Tb: when Tb dropped, amounts of sleep, especially REMS, also were decreased. When Tb did not change, sleep was unaffected. The second and third experiments sought to determine whether PHEN lowered Tb by acting on the thermal set-point or by altering one or more thermoregulatory effectors. The second experiment utilized operant thermoregulation to determine the range of preferred Ta's post-PHEN. The results show that decreases in Tb post-PHEN are counteracted behaviorally. The third experiment measured autonomic heat loss and heat production. Decreases in Tb were caused by increased heat loss during the first 15-30 minutes post-PHEN. In addition, heat production increased after the drop in Tb. These results suggest that PHEN lowers Tb by altering thermoregulatory effectors, not by lowering thermal set-point.
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