In the brain found the area responsible for the "sleep mode"
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Two decades ago, a group of researchers from the medical center Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston and is a teaching hospital for Harvard medical school, found in the brain the nerve cells, which, according to scientists, моглb to be a kind of "switches" which transforms brain in sleep mode. And only recently, this hypothesis was confirmed.
In the new study, published in the journal Nature Communications, a team of scientists has proven that the cells located in the hypothalamus, it ventrolateral preoptičeskoj the nucleus (VLPO), is actually necessary for normal sleep.
"Our work — this is only the first test of what happens when you activate the neurons of the VLPO. The obtained results confirm our initial assumption that cells of the hypothalamus is necessary for normal sleep." — said the study's lead author, doctor of medical Sciences, Clifford Minesweeper.
The study team conducted tests on laboratory mice, in which cells of the VLPO is activated by means of different ways. In the first case, the activation area was by means of a laser beam, how-to "lighting" them (this process is called optogenetics). In another experiment, the team used a special chemical substance for the selective activation of neurons in the VLPO. In fact, and in another case, activation of VLPO cells led to sleep.
"We found that when cells are stimulated VLPO one to four times per second, they work every time and animals coming to sleep. However, if you stimulate them faster, they eventually lose this functionality and stop working. In the end, the experimental animals developed insomnia. It may be the key to a deeper understanding of this process and the development of new therapies."
In Addition, the team of Dr. Sapper also found that the activation of VLPO cells on top causes a decrease in body temperature. Has long been known that during sleep the body temperature falls. But now it became clear what specific area of the brain is responsible for it.
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