Abstract
As a test of the hypothesis that REM sleep deprivation reduces fear, the freezing behavior of 60 rats was measured under the conditions of the Bolles-Collier (1976) paradigm. These animals were first exposed to one of three treatments for 4 days: a dry-environment control, a wetenvironment control, or a 4-day REM deprivation period. Next, the animals were fear conditioned in a square-box and then tested for freezing in either the square-box or a long-box. Finally, after a 4-day recovery period, the animals were retested. The REM-deprived group exhibited substantially less fear than did the control groups during these tests.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bolles, R. C., & Collier, A. C. (1976). The effect of predictive cues on freezing in rats. Animal Learning & Behavior, 4, 6–8.
Hicks, R. A., Gomez, S., Gonzales, L., Kuroda, M., Orme, N., & Reyes, J. (1981). REM sleep deprivation reduces emotionality in famale rats. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 17, 244–245.
Hicks, R. A., & Moore, J. D. (1979). REM sleep deprivation diminishes fear in rats. Physiology & Behavior, 22, 689–692.
Hicks, R. A., Pettey, B., Okuda, A., & Thomsen, D. (1979). The effects of REM sleep deprivation and age on locomotor activity in rats. Psychological Record, 29, 355–360.
Jouvet, D., Vimont, P., Delorme, F., & Jouvet, M. (1964). Étude de la privation selective de la phase paradoxale de sommeil chez le chat. Comptes Rendus de la Société de Biologie, 158, 756–759.
Mendelson, W. B., Gutherie, R. D., Frederick, G., & Wyatt, R. J. (1974). The flower-pot technique of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep deprivation. Pharmacology, Biochemistry & Behavior, 2, 553–556.
Moore, J. D., Hayes, C., & Hicks, R. A. (1979). REM sleep deprivation increases preference for novelty in rats. Physiology & Behavior, 23, 975–976.
Ogilvie, R. D., & Broughton, R. J. (1976). Sleep deprivation and measures of emotionality in rats. Psychophysiology, 13, 249–260.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported by NIH-MBRS Grant RR 08192-07.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hicks, R.A., Hicks, G.J. & Reyes, J.R. REM sleep deprivation and conditioned fear in rats. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 26, 59–60 (1988). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334861
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334861