Sleep: suppression of rapid eye movement phase in the cat after electroconvulsive shock.

Electroconvulsive shock, administered for 5 to 7 days, reduced the daily rapid eye movement sleep time of seven cats to as little as 28 percent of base line levels. After day 4, eye movements during periods of cortical activation without tonic electromyographic activity were greatlyreduced. Although partially deprived of rapid eye movements for as long as 7 days, the cats showed no compensatory rise in rapid eye movement time during the recovery period, but controls equally deprived gave significant rebounds. Rapid eye movement time of anesthetized cats was not affected by current that usually produces con vulsions; it was lowered in animals convulsed with metrazol, but the same dosage of this drug, administered so as to avoid convulsions, had little eflect. It appears that some aspect of the convulsion is responsible for lowering the rapid eye movement time.