[Role of the hypothalamus in the regulation of primary sleep in the frog Rana temporaria]

It has been demonstrated that in the frog Rana temporaria the anterior hypothalamus is involved into regulation of the depth of two forms of rest--one with plastic, the other with decreased muscle tone. Resting state with catatonic muscle activity is associated with activation of the posterior hypothalamus. Participation of the anterior hypothalamus in regulation of the resting state with the decreased tone of skeletal muscles may be taken as one of the indications that this form of rest plays the role of sleep in amphibians, being transformed during evolution of vertebrates into the sleep of poikilotherms.