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Updated: Dec 13, 2025
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Polygraphic Recording Procedure for Measuring Sleep in Mice
Published on: January 25, 2016
24.9K
REM sleep stabilizes hypothalamic representation of feeding behavior.
Lukas T Oesch1,2, Mary Gazea1,2, Thomas C Gent1,2
1Zentrum für Experimentelle Neurologie, Department of Neurology, Inselspital University Hospital Bern, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland.
Summary
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep reactivates specific brain cell patterns from feeding behaviors. Silencing these neurons during REM sleep altered feeding representations and reduced food intake.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Sleep Science
- Behavioral Biology
Background:
- Behavioral unresponsiveness during REM sleep contrasts with high brain activity.
- The physiological role of this neural activation during REM sleep is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of lateral hypothalamus inhibitory neurons (LHvgat) during REM sleep.
- To determine if REM sleep influences the neural representations of feeding behavior.
Main Methods:
- In vivo calcium imaging in freely behaving mice.
- Optogenetic silencing of LHvgat cells during REM sleep.
- Analysis of neural activity patterns during feeding and sleep.
Main Results:
- LHvgat neurons exhibit unique activity patterns during feeding, which are reactivated during REM sleep but not non-REM sleep.
- REM sleep-specific silencing of LHvgat cells reorganized subsequent feeding activity patterns.
- Optogenetic silencing led to decreased food intake.
Conclusions:
- REM sleep plays a crucial role in maintaining the neural representations of feeding behavior.
- LHvgat neurons are involved in linking REM sleep to the consolidation of feeding-related neural circuits.
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