Rapid eye movements during the paradoxical sleep of rabbits.

It is generally accepted that rapid eye movements (REM) are the most characteristic phenomenon of paradoxical sleep among birds and mammals. This is the reason why Dement and Kleitman (1957) who first described this kind of sleep, called it REM-sleep. The occurrence of REM during paradoxical sleep is fairly well described in humans (Mouret and Jeanne~od 1964, Gabersek and Scherrer 1969), monkeys (Fuchs and Ron 1968), and cats (Jeannerod et al. 1965). In v i m of the work of Pompeiano and Morrison (1965) and Fuchs and Ron (1968) REMs are qualitatively different phenomena from eye movements connected with the vision reflexes during wakefulness. Thmefore its high specifity for the paradoxical sleep would be out of question. The knowledge of REMs in rabbits is scanty. It is only genwally accepted that REMs appear in paradoxical sleep of this species, therefore the aim of work presented here is the quantitative study of REM during paradoxical sleep in rabbits.