| First Author | Ma C | Year | 2019 |
| Journal | Neuron | Volume | 103 |
| Issue | 2 | Pages | 323-334.e7 |
| PubMed ID | 31178114 | Mgi Jnum | J:279741 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6355591 | Doi | 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.05.015 |
| Citation | Ma C, et al. (2019) Sleep Regulation by Neurotensinergic Neurons in a Thalamo-Amygdala Circuit. Neuron 103(2):323-334.e7 |
| abstractText | A crucial step in understanding the sleep-control mechanism is to identify sleep neurons. Through systematic anatomical screening followed by functional testing, we identified two sleep-promoting neuronal populations along a thalamo-amygdala pathway, both expressing neurotensin (NTS). Rabies-mediated monosynaptic retrograde tracing identified the central nucleus of amygdala (CeA) as a major source of GABAergic inputs to multiple wake-promoting populations; gene profiling revealed NTS as a prominent marker for these CeA neurons. Optogenetic activation and inactivation of NTS-expressing CeA neurons promoted and suppressed non-REM (NREM) sleep, respectively, and optrode recording showed they are sleep active. Further tracing showed that CeA GABAergic NTS neurons are innervated by glutamatergic NTS neurons in a posterior thalamic region, which also promote NREM sleep. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated NTS knockdown in either the thalamic or CeA neurons greatly reduced their sleep-promoting effect. These results reveal a novel thalamo-amygdala circuit for sleep generation in which NTS signaling is essential for both the upstream glutamatergic and downstream GABAergic neurons. |
