Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Sleep: hitting the reset button

Nature Neuroscience volume 11, pages 123–124 (2008)Cite this article

Many aspects of sleep, including the how and why, are still mysterious, especially its relationship to learning and memory. A new study suggests that sleep may serve to reset synaptic potentiation, linking it to homeostatic plasticity.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The sleep state may provide an opportunity to reset synapses in the brain, depotentiating them back to baseline Awake episode is possible.

References

  1. Vyazovskiy, V.V., Cirelli, C., Pfister-Genskow, M., Faraguna, U. & Tononi, G. Nat. Neurosci. 11, 200–208 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Blanco-Centurion, C. et al. J. Neurosci. 26, 8092–8100 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Stickgold, R. & Walker, M.P. Sleep Med. 8, 331–343 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Korman, M. et al. Nat. Neurosci. 10, 1206–1213 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Huber, R., Ghilardi, M.F., Massimini, M. & Tononi, G. Nature 430, 78–81 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Huber, R. et al. PLoS ONE 2, e276 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Turrigiano, G. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 17, 318–324 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Shepherd, J.D. & Huganir, R.L. Annu. Rev. Cell Dev. Biol. 23, 613–643 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Maret, S. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104, 20090–20095 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Rao, Y. et al. J. Clin. Invest. 117, 4022–4033 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Sherin, J.E., Shiromani, P.J., McCarley, R.W. & Saper, C.B. Science 271, 216–219 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, MS008, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, Massachusetts 02454, USA. griffith@brandeis.edu or rosbash@brandeis.edu,

    Leslie C Griffith & Michael Rosbash

Authors
  1. Leslie C Griffith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michael Rosbash
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Griffith, L., Rosbash, M. Sleep: hitting the reset button. Nat Neurosci 11, 123–124 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0208-123

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0208-123

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing