A Sleeping Dog
In 1965 the French neurophysiologist Michel Jouvet operated on 35 cats, creating lesions in a part of their brainstem called the locus coeruleus. The operation caused no visible difference in their waking behavior, but their behavior while sleeping changed dramatically. They would stalk, leap, and pounce on imaginary prey -- while completely asleep. Jouvet concluded that the locus coeruleus is responsible for suppressing muscle activity during sleep. Damage it, and you act out your dreams.
That's the scientific explanation of the phenomenon, which is a long way of introducing this video of a dog "running" while asleep. Evidently the dog doesn't have a fully functioning locus coeruleus.
That's the scientific explanation of the phenomenon, which is a long way of introducing this video of a dog "running" while asleep. Evidently the dog doesn't have a fully functioning locus coeruleus.
Comments
I babysat for a woman whose ex-husband acted out his dreams. One time he dreamt that he was stacking basketballs in a bin (he worked at a sporting goods store). He grabbed a handful of her hair and started to jerk her back and forth (setting the ball from a cart to the bin) over and over. Then, without letting go, he got up and walked out of the room. Pretty freaky stuff. But he did the really scary stuff when he was awake.
Posted by Maegan on 10/05/08 at 10:39 PM
Is this really all that unusual in dogs? My dog does that a fair bit when she's asleep. And barks. And howls (man, it's eerie when she does that).
Posted by Smerk on 10/06/08 at 07:05 AM
The unusual thing is the dalmation in the corner. Check it out...it doesn't move during the entire video.
Posted by Madd Maxx on 10/06/08 at 07:43 AM
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Category: Animals | Science