Abstract
Sleep deprivation is accompanied by the progressive development of an irresistible need to sleep, a phenomenon whose mechanism has remained elusive. Here, we identified for the first time a reflection of that phenomenon in vitro by showing that, after a short 2 h period of total sleep deprivation, the action of noradrenaline on the wake-promoting hypocretin/orexin neurons changes from an excitation to an inhibition. We propose that such a conspicuous modification of responsiveness should contribute to the growing sleepiness that accompanies sleep deprivation.
Publication types
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Comparative Study
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Animals
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Blotting, Northern / methods
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Electric Stimulation / methods
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Hypothalamus / pathology*
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Immunohistochemistry / methods
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In Vitro Techniques
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Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / metabolism*
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Membrane Potentials / drug effects
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Membrane Potentials / physiology
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Membrane Potentials / radiation effects
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Neurons / drug effects*
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Neurons / physiology
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Neuropeptides / metabolism*
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Norepinephrine / pharmacology*
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Orexins
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Patch-Clamp Techniques / methods
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RNA, Messenger / biosynthesis
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Rats
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Rats, Sprague-Dawley
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Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods
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Sleep Deprivation / pathology
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Sleep Deprivation / physiopathology*
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Wakefulness / drug effects*
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Wakefulness / physiology
Substances
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Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
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Neuropeptides
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Orexins
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RNA, Messenger
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Norepinephrine