Activation of Preoptic GABAergic or Glutamatergic Neurons Modulates Sleep-Wake Architecture, but Not Anesthetic State Transitions.

ABSTRACT: The precise mechanism of general anesthesia remains unclear. In the last two decades, there has been considerable focus on the hypothesis that anesthetics co-opt the neural mechanisms regulating sleep. This hypothesis is supported by ample correlative evidence at the level of sleep-promoting nuclei, but causal investigations of potent inhaled anesthetics have not been conducted. Here, we tested the hypothesis that chemogenetic activation of discrete neuronal subpopulations within the median preoptic nucleus (MnPO) and ventrolateral preoptic nucleus (VLPO) of the hypothalamus would modulate sleep/wake states and alter the time to loss and resumption of consciousness associated with isoflurane, a potent halogenated ether in common clinical use. We show that activating MnPO/VLPO GABAergic or

SUBMITTER: Vanini G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7156032 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature