Modeling the mammalian sleep cycle

Publication date: October 2017
Source:Current Opinion in Neurobiology, Volume 46
Author(s): Franz Weber
During sleep, the mammalian brain transitions through repeated cycles of non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) and rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. The physiological implementation of this slow ultradian brain rhythm is largely unknown. Two differing dynamical mechanisms have been proposed to underlie the NREM–REM cycle. The first model type relies on reciprocal interactions between inhibitory and excitatory neural populations resulting in stable limit cycle oscillations. Recent experimental findings instead favor a model, in which mutually inhibitory interactions between REM sleep-promoting (REM-on) and REM sleep-suppressing (REM-off) neural populations stabilize the brain state. Sow modulations in the neural excitability, that are hypothesized to reflect the homeostatic need for REM sleep, abruptly switch the brain in and out of REM sleep.

Graphical abstract

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