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Elucidation of Neural Circuits Involved in the Regulation of Sleep/Wakefulness Using Optogenetics

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Optogenetics

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1293))

Abstract

Although sleep is an absolutely essential physiological phenomenon for maintaining normal health in animals, little is known about its function to date. In this section, I introduce the application of optogenetics to freely behaving animals for the purpose of characterizing neural circuits involved in the regulation of sleep/wakefulness. Applying optogenetics to the specific neurons involved in sleep/wakefulness regulation enabled the precise control of the sleep/wakefulness states between wakefulness, non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, and REM sleep states. For example, selective activation of orexin neurons using channelrhodopsin-2 and melanopsin induced a transition from sleep to wakefulness. In contrast, suppression of these neurons using halorhodopsin and archaerhodopsin induced a transition from wakefulness to NREM sleep and increased the time spent in NREM sleep. Selective activation of melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) neurons induced a transition from NREM sleep to REM sleep and prolonged the time spent in REM sleep, which was accompanied by a decrease in NREM sleep time. Optogenetics was first introduced to orexin neurons in 2007 and has since rapidly spread throughout the field of neuroscience. In the last 13 years or so, neural nuclei and the cell types that control sleep/wakefulness have been identified. The use of optogenetic studies has greatly contributed to the elucidation of the neural circuits involved in the regulation of sleep/wakefulness.

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Abbreviations

AAV:

Adeno-associated virus

ArchR:

Archaerhodopsin-3

ArchT:

Archaerhodopsin TP009

ChR2:

Channelrhodopsin-2

dDpMe:

Deep mesencephalic nucleus

DR:

Dorsal raphe

EEGs:

Electroencephalograms

EMGs:

Electromyograms

GPCR:

G Protein-coupled receptor

HaloR:

Halorhodopsin

LC:

Locus coeruleus

LDT:

Laterodorsal tegmental nucleus

MCH:

Melanin-concentrating hormone

MnPO:

Median preoptic nucleus

NA:

Numerical aperture

NREM:

Non-rapid eye movement

OPN4:

Melanopsin

OX1R:

Orexin 1 receptor

OX2R:

Orexin 2 receptor

PAG:

Periaqueductal gray

PBN:

Parabrachial nucleus

PPT:

Pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus

REM:

Rapid eye movement

SLD:

Sublaterodorsal nucleus

TMN:

Tuberomammillary nucleus

VLPO:

Ventrolateral preoptic area

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Acknowledgments

T.T. is supported by PRESTO from JST (JPMJPR1887), JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up (17H06520), and JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (20H05047).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Tomomi Tsunematsu

  2. Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Tomomi Tsunematsu

  3. JST, PRESTO, Kawaguchi, Japan

    Tomomi Tsunematsu

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  1. Tomomi Tsunematsu
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Correspondence to Tomomi Tsunematsu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan

    Hiromu Yawo

  2. OptoBioTechnology Research Center, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Nagoya, Japan

    Hideki Kandori

  3. National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Tokyo, Japan

    Amane Koizumi

  4. Institute for Frontier Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Ryoichiro Kageyama

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Tsunematsu, T. (2021). Elucidation of Neural Circuits Involved in the Regulation of Sleep/Wakefulness Using Optogenetics. In: Yawo, H., Kandori, H., Koizumi, A., Kageyama, R. (eds) Optogenetics. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1293. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8763-4_25

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