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Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Optogenetic Manipulation of Neural Circuits During Monitoring Sleep/wakefulness States in Mice
Published on: June 19, 2019
Conservation of sleep: insights from non-mammalian model systems
John E Zimmerman1, Nirinjini Naidoo, David M Raizen
1Center for Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 125 South 31st Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Abstract:
The past 10 years have seen new approaches to elucidating genetic pathways regulating sleep. The emerging theme is that sleep-like states are conserved in evolution, with similar signaling pathways playing a role in animals as distantly related as flies and humans. We review the evidence for the presence of sleep states in non-mammalian species including zebrafish (Danio rerio), fruitflies (Drosophila melanogaster) and roundworms (Caenorhabditis elegans). We describe conserved sleep-regulatory molecular pathways with a focus on cAMP and epidermal growth factor signaling; neurotransmitters with conserved effects on sleep and wake regulation, including dopamine and GABA; and a conserved molecular response to sleep deprivation involving the chaperone protein BiP/GRP78.
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