Citation

Saper CB, Fuller PM, Pedersen NP, Lu J, Scammell TE. Neuron 2010; 68(6): 1023-1042.

Affiliation

Department of Neurology, Program in Neuroscience, and Division of Sleep Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Cell Press)

DOI

10.1016/j.neuron.2010.11.032

PMID

21172606

PMCID

PMC3026325

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.

Language: en