Elucidation and application of a novel mechanism of sleep regulation by diet

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22K19354
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 46:Neuroscience and related fields
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: Yu Hayashi 筑波大学, 国際統合睡眠医科学研究機構, 客員教授 (40525812)
• Project Period (FY): 2022-06-30 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 睡眠

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Sleep architecture (REM and non-REM sleep cycles), an important factor in determining sleep quality, is affected by aging and disease onset. Since changes in sleep quality, in addition to sleep quantity, are risk factors for various diseases, including dementia, the development of effective improvement methods is required. We found that certain diets may effectively increase REM sleep and slow wave sleep (deep non-REM sleep) in mice. Our efforts to elucidate the mechanisms by which diet influences sleep architecture have led to a better understanding of the neural circuits involved and what elements of the diet act on sleep architecture.

Free Research Field

神経科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

食事が脳の生理状態に与える影響について、睡眠を介した新たな機能性に光を当てる本研究は、「食事」「睡眠」「健康」の関係をつなぐメカニズムの解明に貢献した。睡眠改善をうたった商品の科学的根拠などが問題視される中、良質な睡眠を導くことができる食事療法が開発できれば、睡眠障害の改善に大きく貢献できると期待される。精神・神経系疾患に睡眠障害はつきものだが、根本的治療の見通しが未だに立たない疾患が数多く存在する。本研究を起点として、食事の力で認知症等の疾患の予防・治療が導けることが明らかとなれば、医学的にも大きな進歩となると考えられる。