Sleep State Switching

Overview

Journal Neuron

Publisher Cell Press

Specialty Neurology

Date 2010 Dec 22

PMID 21172606

Citations 542

Authors

Clifford B Saper

Patrick M Fuller

Nigel P Pedersen

Jun Lu

Thomas E Scammell

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

We take for granted the ability to fall asleep or to snap out of sleep into wakefulness, but these changes in behavioral state require specific switching mechanisms in the brain that allow well-defined state transitions. In this review, we examine the basic circuitry underlying the regulation of sleep and wakefulness and discuss a theoretical framework wherein the interactions between reciprocal neuronal circuits enable relatively rapid and complete state transitions. We also review how homeostatic, circadian, and allostatic drives help regulate sleep state switching and discuss how breakdown of the switching mechanism may contribute to sleep disorders such as narcolepsy.

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