What is it about?
The sleep neuron RIS in Caenorhabditis elegans is required to induce sleep behavior and to promote survival upon stress. Here we use a genetically engineered strain in which RIS is constantly active to show that RIS can provide survival benefits even when sleep behavior is disturbed.
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Photo by Kate Stone Matheson on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Understanding if sleep behaviour and survival are directly coupled or parallel functions is important in regards to medical treatment of sleep disorders. We show that sleep behaviour and survival are parallel functions of the sleep neuron RIS in C. elegans. Promoting survival in the face of impaired sleep might be a general function of sleep neurons.
Perspectives
I hope this article gives a new perspective on sleep and the function of sleep neurons. Sleep is not just a behaviour but also a brain state and sleep neurons have important functions independent of the behaviour.
Inka Busack
Dresden University of Technology
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A sleep-active neuron can promote survival while sleep behavior is disturbed, PLoS Genetics, March 2023, PLOS, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010665.
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