Sleep State Switching

This review summarizes the brain mechanisms controlling sleep and wakefulness. Wakefulness promoting systems cause low-voltage, fast activity in the electroencephalogram (EEG). Multiple interacting neurotransmitter systems in the brain stem, hypothalamus, and basal forebrain converge onto common effector systems in the thalamus and cortex. Sleep results from the inhibition of wake-promoting systems by homeostatic sleep factors such as adenosine and nitric oxide and GABAergic neurons in the preoptic area of the hypothalamus, resulting in large-amplitude, slow EEG oscillations. Local, activity-dependent factors modulate the amplitude and frequency of cortical slow oscillations. Non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep results in conservation of brain energy and facilitates memory consolidation through the modulation of synaptic weights. Rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep results from the interaction of brain stem cholinergic, aminergic, and GABAergic neurons which control the activity of glutamatergic reticular formation neurons leading to REM sleep phenomena such as muscle atonia, REMs, dreaming, and cortical activation. Strong activation of limbic regions during REM sleep suggests a role in regulation of emotion. Genetic studies suggest that brain mechanisms controlling waking and NREM sleep are strongly conserved throughout evolution, underscoring their enormous importance for brain function. Sleep disruption interferes with the normal restorative functions of NREM and REM sleep, resulting in disruptions of breathing and cardiovascular function, changes in emotional reactivity, and cognitive impairments in attention, memory, and decision making.

/pdf/control-of-sleep-and-wakefulness-51vkuya5ho.pdf

Control of Sleep and Wakefulness

Histamine is a transmitter in the nervous system and a signaling molecule in the gut, the skin, and the immune system. Histaminergic neurons in mammalian brain are located exclusively in the tuberomamillary nucleus of the posterior hypothalamus and send their axons all over the central nervous system. Active solely during waking, they maintain wakefulness and attention. Three of the four known histamine receptors and binding to glutamate NMDA receptors serve multiple functions in the brain, particularly control of excitability and plasticity. H1 and H2 receptor-mediated actions are mostly excitatory; H3 receptors act as inhibitory auto- and heteroreceptors. Mutual interactions with other transmitter systems form a network that links basic homeostatic and higher brain functions, including sleep-wake regulation, circadian and feeding rhythms, immunity, learning, and memory in health and disease.

Histamine in the Nervous System

Serotonin control of sleep-wake behavior.

The mammalian basal forebrain (BF) has important roles in controlling sleep and wakefulness, but the underlying neural circuit remains poorly understood. We examined the BF circuit by recording and optogenetically perturbing the activity of four genetically defined cell types across sleep-wake cycles and by comprehensively mapping their synaptic connections. Recordings from channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2)-tagged neurons revealed that three BF cell types, cholinergic, glutamatergic and parvalbumin-positive (PV+) GABAergic neurons, were more active during wakefulness and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep (wake/REM active) than during non-REM (NREM) sleep, and activation of each cell type rapidly induced wakefulness. By contrast, activation of somatostatin-positive (SOM+) GABAergic neurons promoted NREM sleep, although only some of them were NREM active. Synaptically, the wake-promoting neurons were organized hierarchically by glutamatergic→cholinergic→PV+ neuron excitatory connections, and they all received inhibition from SOM+ neurons. Together, these findings reveal the basic organization of the BF circuit for sleep-wake control.

/pdf/basal-forebrain-circuit-for-sleep-wake-control-2k8lt1bx9m.pdf

Basal forebrain circuit for sleep-wake control

Hypothalamic control of sleep.

The median preoptic nucleus (MnPN) and the ventrolateral preoptic area (vlPOA) contain putative sleep-regulatory neurons that exhibit elevated discharge rates during sleep compared with waking. Expression of c-Fos protein immunoreactivity (IR) in GABAergic neurons in the MnPN and the vlPOA is high in spontaneously sleeping rats and in rats undergoing recovery sleep after sleep deprivation. However, it is unclear whether c-Fos-IR in these neurons is evoked by increases in sleep pressure or by increases in sleep amount. We examined c-Fos-IR in MnPN and vlPOA neurons under experimental conditions that dissociated homeostatic sleep pressure, sleep amount, and time of day. Groups of rats with strong diurnal rhythms in sleep-wake organization were killed after (1) spontaneous sleep in the light, (2) spontaneous sleep in the dark, (3) sleep deprivation (SLD) in the light and (4) recovery sleep after SLD in the light. Numbers of GABAergic neurons expressing c-Fos-IR in the MnPN were significantly higher after SLD in the light compared with spontaneous sleep and recovery sleep in the light. In contrast, Fos-IR in vlPOA GABAergic neurons was most prevalent after spontaneous sleep and recovery sleep in the light. No light-dark differences in Fos-IR were observed in the MnPN after SLD in groups of rats with weak or absent diurnal sleep-waking rhythms. Our findings define potential roles for MnPN and vlPOA GABAergic neurons in homeostatic aspects of sleep regulation.

https://www.jneurosci.org/content/jneuro/26/37/9426.full.pdf

Homeostatic Regulation of Sleep: A Role for Preoptic Area Neurons

The median preoptic nucleus (MnPN) and the ventral lateral preoptic area (vlPOA) of the hypothalamus express sleep-related Fos immunoreactivity, and a subset of Fos-immunoreactive neurons (IRNs) in these nuclei contain glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), a marker of GABAergic cells. We recently showed that the numbers of Fos-positive (Fos+) and Fos+ GAD-IRNs in both the MnPN and the vlPOA are positively correlated with the total amount of preceding sleep. The present study was designed to clarify whether or not activation of sleep-related neurons in the rat MnPN and vlPOA is associated with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep regulation. Expression of c-fos in MnPN and vlPOA neurons was examined under conditions of spontaneous sleep, REM sleep restriction, and REM sleep recovery after REM sleep restriction. Across all conditions, the number of Fos-IRNs was highest in REM-sleep-restricted rats displaying the highest levels of REM sleep homeostatic pressure/drive, i.e., those rats exhibiting the most frequent attempts to enter REM sleep. This finding provides the first evidence that activation of subsets of MnPN and vlPOA neurons is more strongly related to REM sleep pressure than to REM sleep amount.

https://www.jneurosci.org/content/jneuro/26/11/3037.full.pdf

Preoptic Area Neurons and the Homeostatic Regulation of Rapid Eye Movement Sleep

Daily cycles of wakefulness and sleep are regulated by coordinated interactions between wakefulness- and sleep-regulating neural circuitry. Wakefulness is associated with neuronal activity in cholinergic neurons in the brainstem and basal forebrain, monoaminergic neurons in the brainstem and posterior hypothalamus, and hypocretin (orexin) neurons in the lateral hypothalamus that act in a coordinated manner to stimulate cortical activation on the one hand and behavioral arousal on the other hand. Each of these neuronal groups subserves distinct aspects of wakefulness-related functions of the brain. Normal transitions from wakefulness to sleep involve sleep-related inhibition and/or disfacilitation of the multiple arousal systems. The cell groups that shut off the network of arousal systems, at sleep onset, occur with high density in the ventral lateral preoptic area (VLPO) and the median preoptic nucleus (MnPN) of the hypothalamus. Preoptic neurons are activated during sleep and exhibit sleep-wake state-dependent discharge patterns that are reciprocal of that observed in several arousal systems. Neurons in the VLPO contain the inhibitory neuromodulator, galanin, and the inhibitory neurotransmitter, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). The majority of MnPN sleep-active neurons synthesize GABA. VLPO and MnPN neurons are sources of projections to arousal-regulatory systems in the posterior and lateral hypothalamus and the rostral brainstem. Mechanisms of sleep induction by these nuclei are hypothesized to involve GABA-mediated inhibition of multiple arousal systems. Normal cycling between discrete behavioral states is mediated by the combined influence of a sleep need that increases with continued wakefulness and an intrinsic circadian oscillation. This chapter will review anatomical and functional properties of populations of sleep-/wake-regulating neurons, focusing on recent findings supporting functional significance of the VLPO and MnPN in the regulation of sleep--wake homeostasis. Evidence indicating that MnPN and VLPO neurons have different, but complementary sleep regulatory functions will be summarized. Potential mechanisms that function to couple activity in these two sleep-regulatory neurons will be discussed.

Underlying Brain Mechanisms that Regulate Sleep–Wakefulness Cycles

Although traumatic events are presumed to cause sleep disturbances, particularly insomnia, sleep in populations subjected to forced displacement has received little attention. The present study examined the prevalence of insomnia and associated factors in internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Abkhazia 15 years after displacement to Tbilisi. Detailed subjective information about sleep–wake habits, sleep-related and stress-related parameters were obtained from 87 IDPs categorized into good sleepers and insomniacs. The Insomnia Severity Index, Perceived Stress Scale and Beck Depression Inventory were administered. The incidence of insomnia was 41.4%. The majority of insomniacs strongly believed that war-related stress accounted for the onset of their insomnia. Stepwise regression (95% confidence interval) revealed four variables significantly associated with insomnia status: self-estimated influence of war related stress (odds ratio (OR) = 2.51), frequency of nightmares (OR = 1.6), Perceived Stress Scale score (OR = 1.14) and Beck Depression Inventory score (OR = 1.12). Insomnia in IDPs was strongly related to war-associated remembered stress. ‛Over thinking’ about major stress exposure enhanced IDPs' vulnerability to insomnia. These findings have implications for the management of insomnia and associated impairment of daytime functioning in IDPs. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Irma Gvilia

Papers

Hypothalamic control of sleep.

Homeostatic Regulation of Sleep: A Role for Preoptic Area Neurons

Preoptic Area Neurons and the Homeostatic Regulation of Rapid Eye Movement Sleep

Underlying Brain Mechanisms that Regulate Sleep–Wakefulness Cycles

Insomnia in a displaced population is related to war-associated remembered stress.