The detailed molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of sleep duration in mammals
are still elusive. To address this challenge, we constructed a simple computational model …

A primary goal of sleep research is to understand the molecular basis of sleep. Although
some sleep/wake-promoting circuits and secreted substances have been identified, the …

Astrocytic Ca2+ signaling has been intensively studied in health and disease but has not
been quantified during natural sleep. Here, we employ an activity-based algorithm to assess …

Neural activity is diverse, and varies depending on brain regions and sleep/wakefulness
states. However, whether astrocyte activity differs between sleep/wakefulness states, and …

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep onset is triggered by disinhibition of cholinergic neurons
in the pons. During REM sleep, the brain exhibits prominent activity in the 5–8 Hz (theta) …

Sleep is homeostatically regulated in all species that have been carefully studied. In
mammals and birds, the best characterized marker of sleep pressure is slow wave activity …

Sleep regulation involves interdependent signaling among specialized neurons in
distributed brain regions. Although acetylcholine promotes wakefulness and rapid eye …

A crucial step in understanding the sleep-control mechanism is to identify sleep neurons.
Through systematic anatomical screening followed by functional testing, we identified two …

Although considered an inactive state for centuries, sleep entails many active processes
occurring at the cellular, circuit and organismal levels. Over the last decade, several key …

Sleep-active neurons located in the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus (VLPO) play a crucial role
in the induction and maintenance of slow-wave sleep (SWS). However, the cellular and …