Title: Basal Forebrain Mechanisms of Sleep-Wake Regulation

Speaker: Dr. Min Xu, Ph.D., Principal Investigator of Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology (Institute of Neuroscience), CAS

Time: 16:00-17:30, May 13, 2021

Location: Youcai Deng Hall, Jinguang Building, PKU

Abstract:

The mammalian basal forebrain (BF) plays critical roles in controlling sleep and wakefulness, but the underlying neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. We systematically investigated the neural mechanisms of the BF in controlling the sleep-wake cycle. First, we examined the BF circuits by recording and optogenetically perturbing the activity of four genetically defined cell types across sleep-wake cycles and comprehensively mapping their local and long-range synaptic connections. We then examined how BF neural activity controls sleep homeostasis. Using a novel adenosine sensor, we found a neuronal type-specific control of fast adenosine dynamics during the sleep-wake cycle, and  uncovered a critical role of the BF glutamatergic neurons in controlling adenosine dynamics and sleep homeostasis, offering new insights into  the mechanisms by which neuralactivity during wakefulness contributes to the increase of sleep pressure. Finally,we investigated how astrocyte activity in the BF contribute to sleep-wake behavior.

Host: Prof. Yulong Li