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Updated: Mar 22, 2026

Establishing a Device for Sleep Deprivation in Mice
Published on: September 22, 2023
The molecular neurobiology of the sleep-deprived, fuzzy brain
J David Sweatt1, Kimberly E Hawkins2
1Department of Neurobiology and Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. Civitan International Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. dsweatt@uab.edu.
Abstract:
Sleep deprivation is well established to cause diminution of cognitive function, including disruption of both minute-to-minute working memory and decrements in the stabilization of long-term memories. Moreover, "replay" during sleep of episodes and sequences of events that were experienced during wakefulness has been implicated in consolidation of long-term memories. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the role of sleep in memory function are just starting to be defined. In this issue of Science Signaling, Tudor et al identify one molecular component underlying the effects of sleep on memory function: dynamic experience-dependent regulation of protein synthesis in the hippocampus.
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