'Sleep Node' In the Brain Reveals How We Catch Some Zzz's

A new "sleep node" has been discovered in the brain by researchers at the Harvard School of Medicine. By studying the mammalian brain whose activity appears to be both necessary and sufficient to produce deep sleep, the study authors have determined just how the brain's promoting activity originated from the paracial zone (PZ) in the brainstem.

"The close association of a sleep center with other regions that are critical for life highlights the evolutionary importance of sleep in the brain," said Caroline E. Bass, assistant professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and a co-author on the paper, in a news release.

Researchers noted that a specific type of neuron in the PZ makes the neurontransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is responsible for deep sleep.

"These new molecular approaches allow unprecedented control over brain function at the cellular level," said Christelle Ancelet, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard School of Medicine. "Before these tools were developed, we often used 'electrical stimulation' to activate a region, but the problem is that doing so stimulates everything the electrode touches and even surrounding areas it didn't. It was a sledgehammer approach, when what we needed was a scalpel."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Nature Neuroscience.