Sleep is known to support the proper functioning of body, including the brain, allowing it to rest, recover, and recharge. While countless neuroscientists and medical researchers have been trying to better understand this vital biological process, much of its neural underpinnings are still unknown.
Researchers at Washington State University have been conducting studies investigating the role of astrocytes, a subtype of glial cells known to regulate different brain and bodily functions, in sleep and wakefulness. Their most recent paper, published in the, shows that the activation of astrocytes in the basal forebrain caused mice to remain awake indefinitely, without showing any signs of sleepiness.
"We used a 'chemo-genetic' technique to express a receptor to a small molecule not normally expressed in the mammalian brain," Frank explained."When activated by a special drug, this receptor activates astrocytes. We combined this with standard measures of brain activity and motor activity, which together tell us if the animal is awake or asleep."
"It seemed that the mice were awake without any 'cost,' or in other words no increased sleep drive," Frank said."This was unexpected to us and has several important implications. First, our results challenge the notion that our need for sleep is generated by wakefulness per se. Instead, it may require a specific set of interactions between subtypes of brain cells."
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