Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Mar 4;375(6584):994-1000.
doi: 10.1126/science.abl6618. Epub 2022 Mar 3.

Rapid eye movement sleep is initiated by basolateral amygdala dopamine signaling in mice

Emi Hasegawa  1   2 , Ai Miyasaka  1 , Katsuyasu Sakurai  1 , Yoan Cherasse  1 , Yulong Li  3 , Takeshi Sakurai  1   2   4
Affiliations

Rapid eye movement sleep is initiated by basolateral amygdala dopamine signaling in mice

Emi Hasegawa et al. Science. .

Abstract

The sleep cycle is characterized by alternating non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleeps. The mechanisms by which this cycle is generated are incompletely understood. We found that a transient increase of dopamine (DA) in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) during NREM sleep terminates NREM sleep and initiates REM sleep. DA acts on dopamine receptor D2 (Drd2)-expressing neurons in the BLA to induce the NREM-to-REM transition. This mechanism also plays a role in cataplectic attacks-a pathological intrusion of REM sleep into wakefulness-in narcoleptics. These results show a critical role of DA signaling in the BLA in initiating REM sleep and provide a neuronal basis for sleep cycle generation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

  • Addicted to dreaming.
    Arrigoni E, Fuller PM. Arrigoni E, et al. Science. 2022 Mar 4;375(6584):972-973. doi: 10.1126/science.abo1987. Epub 2022 Mar 3. Science. 2022. PMID: 35239395
  • Catching Up on REMs.
    Burgess CR, Scammell TE. Burgess CR, et al. N Engl J Med. 2022 May 19;386(20):1950-1952. doi: 10.1056/NEJMcibr2203101. N Engl J Med. 2022. PMID: 35584160 No abstract available.
  • Dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area modulate rapid eye movement sleep.
    Fraigne JJ, Luppi PH, Mahoney CE, De Luca R, Shiromani PJ, Weber F, Adamantidis A, Peever J. Fraigne JJ, et al. Sleep. 2023 Aug 14;46(8):zsad024. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsad024. Sleep. 2023. PMID: 36775897 No abstract available.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources