Topic: sleep-wake cycle

Maintaining average activity level within a set-point range constitutes a fundamental property of central neural circuits. Accumulated evidence suggests that firing rate distributions and their means represent physiological variables regulated by homeostatic systems during sleep-wake cycle in central neural circuits. While intracellular Ca2+ has long been hypothesized as a feedback control signal, the source of Ca2+ and the molecular machinery enabling network-wide homeostatic responses remain largely unknown. I will present our hypothesis and framework on identifying homeostatic regulators i

Astrocyte calcium signals are region-specific and state-dependent across the sleep-wake cycle. However, their role in sleep regulation remains poorly understood. Since the pons is critical for sleep, especially rapid eye movement (REM) sleep regulation, we investigate the dynamics of pontine astrocyte calcium signals and their role in REM sleep induction in mice. We monitored pontine astrocyte calcium signals by expressing GCaMP6f under the control of gfaABC1D promoter and implanted optic fiber into the sublaterodorsal tegmental nucleus (SLD). Also, we simultaneously acquired cortical electroe