title: The hypocretins as sensors for metabolism and arousal.
abstract: Sleep disturbances are associated with hormonal imbalances and may result in metabolic disorders including obesity and diabetes. Therefore, circuits controlling both sleep and metabolism are likely to play a role in these physiopathological conditions. The hypocretin (Hcrt) system is a strong candidate for mediating both sleep and metabolic imbalances because Hcrt neurons are sensitive to metabolic hormones, including leptin and ghrelin, and modulate arousal and goal-orientated behaviours. This review discusses the role of Hcrt neurons as a sensors of energy balance and arousal and proposes new ways of probing local hypothalamic circuits regulating sleep and metabolism with unprecedented cellular specificity and temporal resolution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA 94304-5742, USA. tidis@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adamantidis
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: de Lecea
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D054439:Ghrelin / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000502:physiology; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D020738:Leptin / Q000502:physiology; D008660:Metabolism; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000502:physiology*; D000068797:Orexins; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D054439:Ghrelin; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D020738:Leptin; D009479:Neuropeptides; D000068797:Orexins