What is it about?
Sleep is a fundamental pillar of lifelong health. Does sleep perform the same beneficial functions everyday of our lives, or does sleep perform unique functions during development? To address this question, we systematically compared the effects of sleep deprivation between developing and adult mice. Compared to adults, juvenile mice lack appropriate adaptations to sleep deprivation, exposing them to greater negative consequences. Sleep deprivation in juveniles, but not adults, effects important aspects of brain development such as the formation of synapses. We conclude that sleep plays a unique role in early life supporting healthy brain development.
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Why is it important?
Sleep disruption, including difficulty going to sleep, frequent awakenings, and short sleep duration, are common issues in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), often from an early age. It is unknown how these sleep problems may contribute to altered brain function and behavior. Our research shows that sleep loss has a unique effect on the developing brain, and that brain proteins that are sensitive to sleep loss overlap with known ASD risk mutations. This work begins to unravel how sleep loss during development can play a role in the risk and progression of ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders. This work places a greater emphasis on identifying and treating sleep problems during early life to support healthy brain development.
Perspectives
Why do we sleep? This is one of the greatest mysteries remaining in neuroscience. Our work suggests that there is not one answer to this question. Rather sleep performs distinct functions during early life to support brin development, transitioning to homeostatic functions that maintain brain functions in adults. This is an essential step in the development of effective sleep-based medicines. Our work suggests that dedicated medicines will need to be developed to treat sleep problems in children compared to adults. Currently, sleep medicines available for children as extremely limited.
Graham Diering
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Developing forebrain synapses are uniquely vulnerable to sleep loss, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, October 2024, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2407533121.
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