Understanding integrated sensing system of sleep pressure

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19H03263
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 44050:Animal physiological chemistry, physiology and behavioral biology-related
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: Liu Qonghua 筑波大学, 国際統合睡眠医科学研究機構, 教授 (90723792)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 櫻井 勝康 筑波大学, 国際統合睡眠医科学研究機構, 准教授 (70507920)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 睡眠 / 神経細胞 / 神経回路

Outline of Final Research Achievements

What is drowsiness? The true nature of drowsiness has not been clarified. We hypothesized that sleepiness is encoded by changes in neuronal activity in specific regions/neurons in the brain, and attempted to identify these neurons by histological methods. We also hypothesized that some of the specific regions and neurons in the brain involved in the loss of consciousness during general anesthesia are involved in sleep induction, and we searched for such neurons. To further investigate the true nature of drowsiness, we tested whether postprandial sleepiness can be artificially induced in experimental animals (mice).

Free Research Field

神経科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

眠気の正体に迫るために、活性化した神経細胞を高い時間解像度で組織科学的に可視化する手法を用いて全脳スクリーニングを行った。この手法は、様々な脳機能の研究に応用することができる可能性が考えられた。
全身麻酔のメカニズムおよび食後の眠気のメカニズムの理解から、睡眠の謎に迫ろうと試みた。本研究で得られた知見は、今後の研究の基盤となりうる。