Stimulation of the Pontine Parabrachial Nucleus Promotes Wakefulness via Extra-thalamic Forebrain Circuit Nodes.

ABSTRACT: Human and animal studies have identified an especially critical role for the brainstem parabrachial (PB) complex in regulating electrocortical (electroencephalogram [EEG]) and behavioral arousal: lesions of the PB complex produce a monotonous high-voltage, slow-wave EEG and eliminate spontaneous behaviors. We report here that targeted chemogenetic activation of the PB complex produces sustained EEG and behavioral arousal in the rat. We further establish, using viral-mediated retrograde activation, that PB projections to the preoptic-basal forebrain and lateral hypothalamus, but not to the thalamus, mediate PB-driven wakefulness. We exploited this novel and noninvasive model of induced wakefulness to explore the EEG and metabolic consequences of extended wakefulness. Repeated (daily) chemog

SUBMITTER: Qiu MH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5025760 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature