Characterization and mapping of sleep-waking specific neurons in the basal forebrain and preoptic hypothalamus in mice.
We recorded 872 single units across the complete sleep-waking cycle in the mouse preoptic area (POA) and basal forebrain (BFB), which are deeply involved in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness (W). Of these, 552 were sleep-active, 96 were waking-active, 106 were active during both waking and paradoxical sleep (PS), and the remaining 118 were state-indifferent. Among the 872, we distinguished slow-wave sleep (SWS)-specific, SWS/PS-specific, PS-specific, W-specific, and W/PS-specific neurons, the last group being further divided into specific tonic type I slow (TI-Ss) and specific tonic type I rapid (TI-Rs) both discharging specifically in association with cortical activation during both W and PS. Both the SWS/PS-specific and PS-specific neurons were distributed throughout a wide region of the POA and BFB, whereas the SWS-specific neurons were mainly located in the middle and ventral half of the POA and adjacent BFB, as were the W-specific and W/PS-specific neurons. At the transition from waking to sleep, the majority of SWS-specific and all SWS/PS-specific neurons fired after the onset of cortical synchronization (deactivation), whereas all W-specific and W/PS-specific neurons showed a significant decrease in firing rate >0.5 s before the onset. At the transition from SWS to W, the sleep-specific neurons showed a significant decrease in firing rate 0.1 s before the onset of cortical activation, while the W-specific and W/PS-specific neurons fired >0.5 s before the onset. TI-Ss neurons were characterized by a triphasic broad action potential, slow single isolated firing, and an antidromic response to cortical stimulation, whereas TI-Rs neurons were characterized by a narrow action potential and high frequency burst discharge in association with theta waves in PS. These data suggest that the forebrain sleep/waking switch is regulated by opposing activities of sleep-promoting (SWS-specific and SWS/PS-specific) and waking-promoting (W-specific and W/PS-specific) neurons, that the initiation of sleep is caused by decreased activity of the waking-promoting neurons (disfacilitation), and that the W/PS-specific neurons are deeply involved in the processes of cortical activation/deactivation.
Takahashi
K
K
INSERM U628, Lyon, F-69373, France and Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, 8 Avenue Rockefeller, Lyon Cedex 08, F-69373, France.
Lin
J-S
JS
Sakai
K
K
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D011301:Preoptic Area / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D016548:Prosencephalon / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D012890:Sleep; D012894:Sleep Stages; D014851:Wakefulness