Sleep need-dependent plasticity of a thalamic circuit promotes homeostatic recovery sleep

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lee, Sang Soo; Liu, Qiang; Cheng, Alexandra H. R.; Kim, Dong Won; Boudreau, Daphne M.; Mehta, Anuradha; Keles, Mehmet F.; Fejfer, Rafal; Palmer, Isabelle; Park, Kristen H.; Muenzberg, Heike; Harris, Timothy D.; Graves, Austin R.; Blackshaw, Seth; Wu, Mark N.
• 署名单位: Johns Hopkins University; Johns Hopkins University; Johns Hopkins University; Louisiana State University System; Louisiana State University; Pennington Biomedical Research Center; Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Johns Hopkins University; Aarhus University
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-10704
• DOI: 10.1126/science.adm8203
• 发表日期: 2025-06-19
• 关键词: gabaergic neurons; BEHAVIOR; protein; diversity; dopamine; midbrain; nucleus; kinase; gaba

摘要

Prolonged wakefulness leads to persistent, deep recovery sleep (RS). However, the neuronal circuits that mediate this process remain elusive. From a circuit screen in mice, we identified a group of thalamic nucleus reuniens (RE) neurons activated during sleep deprivation (SD) and required for sleep homeostasis. Optogenetic activation of RE neurons leads to an unusual phenotype: presleep behaviors (grooming and nest organizing) followed by prolonged, intense sleep that resembles RS. Inhibiting RE activity during SD impairs subsequent RS, which suggests that these neurons signal sleep need. RE neurons act upstream of sleep-promoting zona incerta cells, and SD triggers plasticity of this circuit to strengthen their connectivity. These findings reveal a circuit mechanism by which sleep need transforms the functional coupling of a sleep circuit to promote persistent, deep sleep.