Vasopressin neurons in the paraventricular hypothalamus promote wakefulness via lateral hypothalamic orexin neurons

Neurons that make mice feel awake

27 January 2023

A set of neurons in the hypothalamus brain region cause mice to become wakeful when stimulated.

An array of brain circuits are responsible for making us feel drowsy and wakeful, and neuroscientists are still putting together a complete picture of the circuits involved. Such knowledge will be helpful for developing treatments for sleep disorders.

Now, a team led by researchers from Kanazawa University in Japan has shown that certain neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus — a region that controls many functions including metabolism and responses to stress — promote wakefulness in mice when excited.

In addition to playing a role in regulating the daily cycle of sleep and wakefulness, these neurons also promote wakefulness when a mouse experiences stress due to being in an unfamiliar environment.

This finding may have implications for people suffering from insomnia in conjunction with an eating disorder, the researchers note.

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References

1. Current Biology 32, 3871–3885 (2022). doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.020