The findings suggest this brain region drives sleepiness and triggers restorative sleep after sleep loss
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have identified neurons in mice that may explain how the brain tracks and recovers from sleep debt.
“Together, the findings suggest this brain region drives sleepiness and triggers restorative sleep after sleep loss,” said lead researcher Mark Wu. The team used tracers to study brain pathways linked to sleep, discovering 22 regions connected to sleep-inducing areas. They focused on 11 previously unknown regions using chemogenetics to activate them in mice.
One region, the thalamic nucleus reuniens, was key. Stimulating it led to double the amount of non-REM sleep in mice, though sleep occurred after a delay. “They kind of groom their face, they clean their whiskers and then they fluff their nest up,” Wu explained, likening it to human bedtime rituals.
Suppressing this region in sleep-deprived mice reduced sleepiness and nesting behavior. While the findings could aid treatments for disorders like Alzheimer’s, William Giardino of Stanford cautioned, “They’re focusing more on the short-term effects of sleep deprivation.”