A Hypothalamic Switch for REM and Non-REM Sleep

Kai-Siang Chen; Min Xu; Zhe Zhang; Wei-Cheng Chang; Thomas Gaj; David V Schaffer; Yang Dan

doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2018.02.005

A Hypothalamic Switch for REM and Non-REM Sleep

Neuron. 2018 Mar 7;97(5):1168-1176.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2018.02.005. Epub 2018 Feb 22.

Authors

Kai-Siang Chen¹, Min Xu¹, Zhe Zhang¹, Wei-Cheng Chang¹, Thomas Gaj², David V Schaffer², Yang Dan³

Affiliations

¹ Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
² Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
³ Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. Electronic address: ydan@berkeley.edu.

PMID: 29478915
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2018.02.005

Abstract

Rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM (NREM) sleep are controlled by specific neuronal circuits. Here we show that galanin-expressing GABAergic neurons in the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) comprise separate subpopulations with opposing effects on REM versus NREM sleep. Microendoscopic calcium imaging revealed diverse sleep-wake activity of DMH GABAergic neurons, but the galanin-expressing subset falls into two distinct groups, either selectively activated (REM-on) or suppressed (REM-off) during REM sleep. Retrogradely labeled, preoptic area (POA)-projecting galaninergic neurons are REM-off, whereas the raphe pallidus (RPA)-projecting neurons are primarily REM-on. Bidirectional optogenetic manipulations showed that the POA-projecting neurons promote NREM sleep and suppress REM sleep, while the RPA-projecting neurons have the opposite effects. Thus, REM/NREM switch is regulated antagonistically by DMH galaninergic neurons with intermingled cell bodies but distinct axon projections.

Keywords: dorsomedial hypothalamus; galanin; sleep.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Female
Hypothalamus / chemistry
Hypothalamus / diagnostic imaging*
Hypothalamus / physiology*
Male
Mice
Mice, Transgenic
Optogenetics / methods
Random Allocation
Sleep, REM / physiology*
Sleep, Slow-Wave / physiology*