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Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Optogenetic Manipulation of Neural Circuits During Monitoring Sleep/wakefulness States in Mice
Published on: June 19, 2019
Wake-promoting actions of medial basal forebrain beta2 receptor stimulation
C W Berridge1, R L Stellick, B E Schmeichel
1Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA. berridge@wisc.edu
Abstract:
The locus coeruleus-noradrenergic system exerts an activating influence on forebrain neuronal and behavioral activity states, in part, through the actions of noradrenergic beta receptors located within the medial septal (MS) and medial preoptic (MPOA) areas. The current study examined the extent to which beta2 receptors located within these medial basal forebrain regions modulate behavioral state. In this study, the sleep-wake effects of microinfusion of the beta2 agonist, clenbuterol, into the MS and MPOA were examined. Clenbuterol infusion into both MS and MPOA elicited a dose-dependent increase in time spent awake. These observations indicate that medial basal forebrain beta-sub-2 receptors participate in the noradrenergic-dependent modulation of behavioral state.
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