Dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens promotes REM sleep and cataplexy

Patients with the sleep disorder narcolepsy suffer from excessive daytime sleepiness, disrupted nighttime sleep, and cataplexy-the abrupt loss of postural muscle tone during wakefulness, often triggered by strong emotion. The dopamine (DA) system is implicated in both sleep-wake states and cataplexy, but little is known about the function of DA release in the striatum and sleep disorders. Recording DA release in the ventral striatum revealed orexin-independent changes across sleep-wake states as well as striking increases in DA release in the ventral, but not dorsal, striatum prior to cataplexy onset. Tonic low-frequency stimulation of ventral tegmental efferents in the ventral striatum suppressed both cataplexy and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, while phasic high-frequency stimulation increased cataplexy propensity and decreased the latency to REM sleep. Together, our findings demonstrate a functional role of DA release in the striatum in regulating cataplexy and REM sleep.