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. 2018 Mar 7;97(5):1168-1176.e4.
doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2018.02.005. Epub 2018 Feb 22.

A Hypothalamic Switch for REM and Non-REM Sleep

Kai-Siang Chen  1 , Min Xu  1 , Zhe Zhang  1 , Wei-Cheng Chang  1 , Thomas Gaj  2 , David V Schaffer  2 , Yang Dan  3
Affiliations
Free article

A Hypothalamic Switch for REM and Non-REM Sleep

Kai-Siang Chen et al. Neuron. .
Free article

Abstract

Rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM (NREM) sleep are controlled by specific neuronal circuits. Here we show that galanin-expressing GABAergic neurons in the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) comprise separate subpopulations with opposing effects on REM versus NREM sleep. Microendoscopic calcium imaging revealed diverse sleep-wake activity of DMH GABAergic neurons, but the galanin-expressing subset falls into two distinct groups, either selectively activated (REM-on) or suppressed (REM-off) during REM sleep. Retrogradely labeled, preoptic area (POA)-projecting galaninergic neurons are REM-off, whereas the raphe pallidus (RPA)-projecting neurons are primarily REM-on. Bidirectional optogenetic manipulations showed that the POA-projecting neurons promote NREM sleep and suppress REM sleep, while the RPA-projecting neurons have the opposite effects. Thus, REM/NREM switch is regulated antagonistically by DMH galaninergic neurons with intermingled cell bodies but distinct axon projections.

Keywords: dorsomedial hypothalamus; galanin; sleep.

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