hypnotoxin

Noun

hypnotoxin (plural hypnotoxins)

1. A hypothetical waste product of the brain proposed by Henri Piéron that causes fatigue and is cleansed by sleep.
   • Yet, because of its apparent common sense, the hypnotoxin idea remained attractive until Dr. Kleitman's studies of the temperature cycle.1950 April 3, Robert Coughlan, “Sleep, and How to Get More of It”, in LIFE, volume 28, number 14, page 126
   • Legendre and Piéron ( 2402-13 ), having obtained what they called "hypnotoxin" ( p. 203 ) from animals kept awake for a long time, did not attribute the onset of sleep to the direct action of hypnotoxin but to an inhibition of the CNS, the hypnotoxin thus acting as an accessory influence1987, Nathaniel Kleitman, Sleep and Wakefulness, page 352
2. A venom found in the nematocysts of some cnidarians that acts as a central nervous system depressant leading to inactivity, numbness, paralysis, and coma.
   • On the other hand, the evidence that there is present in nettles another poison, the hypnotoxin, responsible for the paralysis of punctured animals, seems well grounded.1910, Otto Charles Glaser, The Nematocysts of Eolids, page 136
   • According to Portier and Richet, hypnotoxin is believed to be a heat-sensitive, nondialyzable toxin with protein properties.1957, Bruce. W. Halstead, “Jellyfish Stings and their Medical Management”, in United States Armed Forces Medical Journal, volume 8, number 11, page 1600