Actions of a new antihypnic drug (cylert) upon the sleep and wakefulness neuronal systems

The central actions of the pemolinic base of magnesium upon the brain mechanisms involved in sleep and wakefulness were studied in cats with electrodes and cannulae permanently implanted in the brains. It was found: (1) that this drug increases the excitability of the vigilance system producing the corresponding changes in the electrical activity of the neocortex and of the olfactory bulb in the intact animal, but not in the animal with a lesion in the mesencephalic tegmentum. (2) that this drug counteracts both spontaneous sleep as well as sleep induced by cholinergic stimulation of the hypnogenic central pathways.

It is suggested that the antihypnic action of the pemolinic base of magnesium results from pharmacological interference of the inhibitory action that the sleep system tonically exerts upon the vigilance system.