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Sleep deprivation is a state that arises when an organism has less sleep than is optimal, and is followed by a 'rebound' in slow-wave sleep when the opportunity arises. This can be induced experimentally or environmentally (such as shift work), but is also associated with neurological and psychiatric disorders such as dementia, in which normal sleep patterns are disrupted.
A study of neuronal activity in rats finds that sleep loss adversely affects hippocampal function and memory by dissociating hippocampal sharp-wave ripples from memory replay and reactivation events.
The associations between sleep, depression and brain activity are not well understood. Here, the authors show patterns of brain activity associated with insomnia and depression resemble those found in people who sleep less, but only under cognitive load. At rest, these activation patterns are hyperconnected and resemble those found in longer sleepers.
Sleep deprivation impacts molecular changes across brain regions. Here, the authors utilize a spatial. transcriptomics approach to elucidate acute sleep deprivation-induced gene expression signature. across regions and subregions of the brain.
Sleep disruption is a common but poorly understood feature of neurodevelopmental disorders including autism spectrum disorder. A study by Bian et al. reveals that sleep disruption in adolescent mice leads to long-lasting changes in social novelty preferences. Importantly, these perturbations can be restored through balanced actions in midbrain dopamine systems.
Fragmented sleep interferes with a novel neuroimmune axis involving hypocretin produced in the hypothalamus, leading to increased haematopoiesis and larger atherosclerotic lesions.
A set of 80 (mostly synaptic) proteins show hyperphosphorylation in sleep-deprived mice and genetically ‘sleepy’ mice, suggesting that increased phosphorylation of such proteins may be associated with sleep need.