Ventilatory responses to CO2 and to lung inflation were compared in four dogs during tonic and phasic segments of rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. Phasic REM sleep (P-REM) was identified by the presence of bursts of rapid eye movements, visible muscle twitchings, and frequent phasic discharges in the nuchal electromyogram. These features were absent during tonic REM sleep (T-REM). During P-REM the response of minute volume of ventilation (VI) to progressive hypercapnia (0.58 +/- 0.19 (l/min)/Torr, mean +/- SE) was significantly less than in slow-wave sleep (SWS) (1.40 +/- 0.14; P less than 0.05). In contrast, during T-REM the response (1.48 +/- 0.19) was similar to that in SWS. Similarly, during P-REM the duration of apnea (5.9 +/- 1.5 s) elicited by sustained inflation of the lungs with 1.0 liter of air, was significantly shorter than in SWS (25.8 +/- 0.8); in contrast, during T-REM the duration of apnea (17.8 +/- 3.6) was similar to that in SWS. The results indicate that previously described decreases in VI responses to CO2 and apneic responses to lung inflation during P-REM, compared to SWS, are related to the phasic phenomena of REM sleep, rather than to the REM sleep state per se.