Analysis of the effects of neuromodulators on the generation of spontaneous pontine-geniculate-occipital (PGO) waves

We analyzed the possible mechanisms of the effects of neuromodulators on the activity of cholinergic neurons of the pedunculopontine and laterodorsal tegmental nuclei that generate spontaneous pontine-geniculate-occipital (PGO) waves. According to our analysis, in order to suppress PGO activity, it is desirable to use drugs that increase the concentrations of serotonin, noradrenaline, and histamine and decrease the concentrations of acetylcholine and dopamine. Antidepressants may be also useful for the prevention of spontaneous PGO waves, while neuroleptics can promote their development. It is known that PGO waves are typical of paradoxical sleep. We hypothesized that PGO waves are spontaneously generated during microsleep and their presence in the lateral geniculate body may underlie visual-motor disturbances because it results in the suppression of signal propagation from visual stimuli, not only to the primary visual neocortical area, but also to striatonigral neurons. Therefore, involuntary attention to stimuli cannot be triggered and their processing is impaired in other cortical areas. The proposed neurochemical approaches for artificial inhibition of spontaneous generation of PGO waves during the daytime may be useful for the elimination of dangerous consequences of microsleep episodes.