Optogenetically induced sleep spindle rhythms alter sleep architectures in mice

Sleep spindles are rhythmic patterns of neuronal activity generated within the thalamocortical circuit. Although spindles have been hypothesized to protect sleep by reducing the influence of external stimuli, it remains to be confirmed experimentally whether there is a direct relationship between sl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2012-12, Vol.109 (50), p.20673-20678
Main Authors: Kim, Angela, Latchoumane, Charles, Lee, Soojung, Kim, Guk Bae, Cheong, Eunji, Augustine, George J, Shin, Hee-Sup
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Behavioral neuroscience
Biological Sciences
Channelrhodopsins
Correlation analysis
Correlations
Electroencephalography
Electrophysiological Phenomena
Eye movements
eyes
Genetics
Intralaminar Thalamic Nuclei - physiology
Male
Mice
Mice, Transgenic
Neocortex - physiology
Neurons
Neuroscience
Neurosciences
Noise tolerance
Optogenetics
Periodicity
Photic Stimulation
Rapid eye movement sleep
Rodents
Sleep
Sleep - physiology
Sleep Stages - physiology
Thalamus
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Summary:Sleep spindles are rhythmic patterns of neuronal activity generated within the thalamocortical circuit. Although spindles have been hypothesized to protect sleep by reducing the influence of external stimuli, it remains to be confirmed experimentally whether there is a direct relationship between sleep spindles and the stability of sleep. We have addressed this issue by using in vivo photostimulation of the thalamic reticular nucleus of mice to generate spindle oscillations that are structurally and functionally similar to spontaneous sleep spindles. Such optogenetic generation of sleep spindles increased the duration of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Furthermore, the density of sleep spindles was correlated with the amount of NREM sleep. These findings establish a causal relationship between sleep spindles and the stability of NREM sleep, strongly supporting a role for the thalamocortical circuit in sleep regulation.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1217897109