Searching for neural circuits that induce "sleepiness"

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K21558
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 51:Brain sciences and related fields
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: Oishi Yo 筑波大学, 国際統合睡眠医科学研究機構, 助教 (70554004)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-07-30 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 睡眠

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we aimed to elucidate the mechanism of sleepiness, and as a result, we succeeded in developing mice that can induce brain waves as if they were sleepy. In those mice, deep sleep was induced during sleep, and the arousal threshold was thought to be elevated, as the mice tended to be less prone to arousal induction by mechanical stimulation. It is expected that the use of the mice will clarify the neural mechanism by which deep sleep is induced.

Free Research Field

神経科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、眠気が生じた時やその後眠った時に脳で見られる変化を模倣できるマウスの開発に成功した。同マウスを活用すれば、深い睡眠時に生じる脳での変化がどのように起きるのかを明らかにできると考えられる。また、社会的には、眠気を覚ます薬や、眠気の副作用が起こらない薬の開発に役立つ可能性がある。