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Updated: Aug 20, 2025

Optogenetic Manipulation of Neural Circuits During Monitoring Sleep/wakefulness States in Mice
Published on: June 19, 2019
Cortical regulation of two-stage rapid eye movement sleep
Yufan Dong1,2, Jiaqi Li1, Min Zhou1,2
1Institute of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Abstract:
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is a sleep state characterized by skeletal muscle paralysis and cerebral cortical activation. Yet, global cortical dynamics and their role in regulating REM sleep remain unclear. Here we show that in mice, REM sleep is accompanied by highly patterned cortical activity waves, with the retrosplenial cortex (RSC) as a major initiation site. Two-photon imaging of layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons of the RSC revealed two distinct patterns of population activities during REM sleep. These activities encoded two sequential REM sleep substages, characterized by contrasting facial movement and autonomic activity and by distinguishable electroencephalogram theta oscillations. Closed-loop optogenetic inactivation of RSC during REM sleep altered cortical activity dynamics and shortened REM sleep duration via inhibition of the REM substage transition. These results highlight an important role for the RSC in dictating cortical dynamics and regulating REM sleep progression.
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