0141 Ascending Projections From Parafacial Zone To The Medial Parabrachial Neurons

[摘要] IntroductionThe parafacial zone (PZ) is an important region for the generation of non-REM (NREM) sleep. We previously found that optogenetic-stimulation of PZ GABA projections inhibits lateral parabrachial neurons (lPB) that project to basal forebrain (BF) and we thought that through this circuit PZ neurons promoted NREM sleep. However some studies reported that glutamatergic neurons in mPB are necessary for spontaneous waking compared to those in lPB which promote arousal manily in response to hypercapnia or pain. We found that the PZ heavily innervates the mPB, suggesting that PZ might promote NREM sleep by inhibiting mPB. We used in vitro Channelrhodopsin2 (ChR2)-assisted circuit mapping (CRACM) to investigate the functional synaptic connectivity between the PZ and mPB neurons. We also studied in whole animal experiments the effects of activation of PZ GABAergic neurons using a chemogenetic approach.

[学科分类] 生理学