Locus coeruleus

Kjaerby and Andersen et al. show that norepinephrine (NE) plays profound roles in shaping sleep micro-architecture. NE slowly oscillates during sleep, with NE oscillatory amplitude being a major determinant of spindle-dependent memory consolidation and awakenings.

Despite its wide and growing use, the mechanisms by which in vivo vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) exerts its therapeutic benefits are still largely unknown. Here, the authors show in mice that pupil dilation is a reliable and noninvasive biosensor for titratable VNS-evoked cortical neuromodulation by acetylcholine.

The authors describe a local population of GABAergic neurons that directly inhibits locus coeruleus noradrenergic neurons. They show how this circuit regulates arousal gain and tone.

Neurons of the locus coeruleus (LC) are implicated in attention and arousal. Here the authors use CRISPR/Cas9 to disrupt dopamine beta hydroxylase in LC neurons and see this reduces LC-evoked sleep-to-wake transitions and wake length.