Sleep Regulation: Lessons from the Two-Process Model
- Submission status
- Open
- Submission deadline
The factors that govern the timing and duration of sleep and wakefulness continue to be a focal point of vigorous research within the scientific community. Nearly four decades ago, the two-process model of sleep regulation, proposed by Borbely and Dean, laid the groundwork for our understanding of how sleep is timed. This model, emphasizing the interplay between the circadian drive for wakefulness and the homeostatic drive for sleep, has been remarkably accurate at predicting sleep behaviours. Despite its widespread acceptance, open questions remain on the molecular and neurophysiological mechanisms underlying these processes.
Compounding the complexity, emerging research indicates that certain species may not follow the prediction of the model or demonstrate typical homeostatic processes. These findings suggest a larger cooperation of existing models and that alternative regulatory mechanisms may exist. This highlights a significant gap in our understanding and underscores the need for innovative research in this domain.
This collection aims to address these challenges by shedding light on recent developments that pertain to the two-process model, synaptic and astroglial mechanisms, and welcomes alternative hypotheses for sleep regulation. We are particularly interested in studies that explore the sleep or circadian drives, their interaction, and their implications across behavioural, electrophysiological, cellular, and molecular dimensions. Contributions can range from reviews that synthesize recent advances to original research articles that present new data.
Editors
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Aarti Jagannath, PhD
Associate Professor, Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience, University of Oxford, UK
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Carolina Gutierrez Herrera, PhD
Principal Investigator, Department of Neurology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital and the Department for BioMedical Research (DBMR), University of Bern, Switzerland
