title: Identification of a population of sleep-active cerebral cortex neurons.
abstract: The presence of large-amplitude, slow waves in the EEG is a primary characteristic that distinguishes cerebral activity during sleep from that which occurs during wakefulness. Although sleep-active neurons have been identified in other brain areas, neurons that are specifically activated during slow-wave sleep have not previously been described in the cerebral cortex. We have identified a population of cells in the cortex that is activated during sleep in three mammalian species. These cortical neurons are a subset of GABAergic interneurons that express neuronal NOS (nNOS). Because Fos expression in these sleep-active, nNOS-immunoreactive (nNOS-ir) neurons parallels changes in the intensity of slow-wave activity in the EEG, and these neurons are innvervated by neurotransmitter systems previously implicated in sleep/wake control, cortical nNOS-ir neurons may be part of the neurobiological substrate that underlies homeostatic sleep regulation.
authors.affiliation: Biosciences Division, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA.
authors.forename: Dmitry
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gerashchenko
authors.forename: Jonathan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Wisor
authors.forename: Deirdre
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.forename: Rebecca K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Reh
authors.forename: Priyattam J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Shiromani
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakurai
authors.forename: Horacio O
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: de la Iglesia
authors.forename: Thomas S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Kilduff
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D006224:Cricetinae; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004594:Electrophysiology; D007395:Interneurons / Q000145:classification / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008647:Mesocricetus; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009474:Neurons / Q000145:classification* / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D052248:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I / Q000378:metabolism; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D052248:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I