Topographical distribution of the locus coeruleus and raphe nuclei in the lizard Ctenosaura pectinata: Functional implications on sleep

The nature of sleep in reptiles has traditionally created intense discussion and has originated some controversy. Nevertheless, some authors have described a sleep phase analogous to sleep in endotherm vertebrates. It is known that in mammals, the locus coeruleus and raphe nuclei, located in the brain stem, are functionally related to the sates vigilance regulation. In contrast the presence of two sleep phases in the lizard Ctenosaura pectinata similar to slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep have been described. Therefore we carried out studies of the brain stem of C. pectinata to search for cellular groupings related to the regulation of these sleep phases. We identified and described the topographical distribution of the locus coeruleus and raphe nuclei in the lizard C. pectinata. Results show that these nuclei that have been functionally related to vigilance states in mammals, are also present in C. pectinata. These nuclei are formed by fairly well defined cellular groupings placed in the brain stem.