Insomniac fish shed light on the molecular basis of sleep disordersOctober 16, 2007Sleep disorders are common and poorly understood. In humans, narcolepsy is a sleep disorder associated with sleepiness, abnormal dreaming, paralysis and insomnia. Neuropeptides called hypocretins are implicated in this disorder. A new study by Yokogawa and colleagues at Stanford University now reveals that fish, like mammals, sleep, and their hypocretin receptor plays an important role. Their work is published online this week in the open-access journal PLoS Biology. The authors first generated a mutant fish in which the hypocretin system was disrupted. Intriguingly, this first fish sleep mutant did not display sleepiness or paralysis but showed a 30% reduction of its sleep time at night and a 60% decrease in sleep bout length compared with non-mutant fish. They also studied the relationships between the hypocretin system and other sleep regulatory brain systems in zebrafish and found differences in expression patterns in the brain that may explain the differences in behavioral effects. Their study illustrates how a sleep regulatory system may have evolved across vertebrate phylogeny. Zebrafish, a powerful genetic model that has the advantage of transparency to study neuronal networks in vivo, can be used to study sleep. Public Library of Science |
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| Related Sleep Disorder Current Events and Sleep Disorder News Articles UT scientists discover link between protein and lung disease In a development that could lead to a novel approach to the treatment of a devastating lung disease, biochemists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston report they are the first to link the osteopontin (OPN) protein to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Study finds increased 'sibling risk' of obstructive sleep apnea in children A study in the Aug. 1 issue of the journal SLEEP indicates that children have an increased risk of developing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) if they have at least one sibling who has been diagnosed with the sleep disorder. Poor sleep in children may have prenatal origins A study in the Aug.1 issue of the journal SLEEP found that alcohol consumption during pregnancy and small body size at birth predict poorer sleep and higher risk of sleep disturbances in 8-year-old children born at term. ADHD genes found, known to play roles in neurodevelopment Pediatric researchers have identified hundreds of gene variations that occur more frequently in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than in children without ADHD. Study shows a bidirectional relationship between chronic stress and sleep problems People with chronic stress report shorter sleep duration, worse sleep quality, and more daytime functioning impairments. Excessive gaming associated with poor sleep hygiene and increased sleepiness Computer/console gamers who play for more than seven hours a week and who identify their gaming as an addiction sleep less during the weekdays and experience greater sleepiness than casual or non-gamers. Sleep disorders are largely underdiagnosed in pediatric patients Primary care pediatricians may be under-diagnosing sleep disorders in children and teens, according to a research abstract that will be presented on Monday, June 8 at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. Narcolepsy is an autoimmune disorder, Stanford researcher says Ten years ago, Stanford University School of Medicine scientist Emmanuel Mignot, MD, PhD, and his colleagues made headlines when they identified the culprit behind the sleep disorder narcolepsy. Study links ADHD with sleep problems in adolescents A study in the May 1 issue of the journal SLEEP shows that adolescents with a childhood diagnosis of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are more likely to have current and lifetime sleep problems and disorders, regardless of the severity of current ADHD symptoms. Treating sleep disorders in people with traumatic brain injury may not eliminate symptoms A study in the April 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine is the first to assess the effectiveness of treating sleep disorders in adults with a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Results indicate that treatment may result in the objective resolution of the sleep disorder without improvements in daytime sleepiness or neuropsychological function. More Sleep Disorder Current Events and Sleep Disorder News Articles |
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