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Updated: May 9, 2026

Optogenetic Manipulation of Neural Circuits During Monitoring Sleep/wakefulness States in Mice
Published on: June 19, 2019
From sleep homeostasis to cellular constraints in neurons
1International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (WPI-IIIS), Tsukuba Institute for Advanced Research (TIAR), University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan; Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
None:
Sleep is a conserved homeostatic process across animal species with nervous systems. The question of why animals sleep has remained one of the central mysteries in biology for millennia. Over the past two decades, major advances in sleep research have begun to clarify both its mechanisms and functions, allowing the outlines of a unifying framework to emerge. In this review, I summarize recent progress in the study of sleep homeostasis, highlight our own work in this area, and discuss how these findings may point toward a broader framework based on cellular constraints in neurons.
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